Adaptive Weighted Nuclear Norm Minimization for Removing Speckle Noise from Optical Coherence Tomography Images

Low-rank matrix approximation is widely used in various fields of computer science, and weighted nuclear norm minimization (WNNM) has demonstrated improved results by shrinking the different weights of singular values. In this paper, an adaptive WNNM is proposed, considering the relative significance of image information by modifying the WNNM. As a result, singular values that contain more important information are relatively saved, whereas those that contain less crucial information are drastically reduced. When applying this method to noised image with black and white dot- noised images, the algorithm showed improved performance in both instances. Especially, when applied to images with white dot noise, the denoised results were outstanding. In addition, the proposed algorithm was successfully applied onto the optical coherence tomography images, numerically and visually.N

Structural and Emulsifying Properties of Soybean Protein Isolate–Sodium Alginate Conjugates under High Hydrostatic Pressure

Soybean protein isolate (SPI) is a kind of plant derived protein with high nutritional value, but it is underutilized due to its structural limitations and poor functionalities. This study aimed to investigate the effects of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatment on SPI and sodium alginate (SA) conjugates prepared through the Maillard reaction. The physicochemical properties of the conjugate synthesized under 200 MPa at 60 °C for 24 h (SPI–SA–200) were compared with those of the conjugate synthesized under atmospheric pressure (SPI–SA–0.1), SPI-SA mixture, and SPI. The HHP (200 MPa) significantly hindered the Maillard reaction. This effect was confirmed by performing SDS-PAGE. The alterations in the secondary structures, such as α-helices, were analyzed using circular dichroism spectroscopy and the fluorescence intensity was determined. Emulsifying activity and stability indices of SPI-SA-200 increased by 33.56% and 31.96% respectively in comparison with the SPI–SA–0.1 conjugate. Furthermore, reduced particle sizes (356.18 nm), enhanced zeta potential (‒40.95 mV), and homogeneous droplet sizes were observed for the SPI-SA-200 emulsion. The present study details a practical method to prepare desirable emulsifiers for food processing by controlling the Maillard reaction and improving the functionality of SPI

Soil-water storage to a depth of 5 m along a 500-km transect on the Chinese Loess Plateau

Soil-water storage (SWS) is an important indicator of the sustainability of regional water resources and is the foundation for developing strategies of land-use management around the world, especially in areas with deficits of soil water. An investigation of the characteristics of SWS at large regional scales can provide valuable information. We measured SWS and available soil-water storage (ASWS) to a depth of 5 m along a 500-km transect across two climatic regions on the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP). SWS5 m tended to decrease from southeast to northwest and was 320 mm higher in the subhumid than the semiarid zone. SWS5 m and ASWS(5 m) were lower in the dry than the rainy season, but SWS1 m and ASWS(1 m) did not differ significantly between the two seasons except in the 0-100 cm layer. SWS1 m and ASWS(1 m) tended to increase with depth in the semiarid zone and did not change substantially with depth in the subhumid zone. SWS5 m and ASWS(5 m) varied with land use, in the orders cropland > orchard > forest in the subhumid zone and grassland > shrubland > forest in the semiarid zone. Climatic conditions and soil textures were predominant factors affecting SWS at the transect scale. SWS5 m and ASWS(5 m) in the subhumid zone were dependent on clay content, elevation, latitude and the interaction of latitude and temperature, while clay content played a dominant role in the semiarid Zone. Understanding this information is helpful for assessing regional water resources, optimizing the rational use of land and modeling eco-hydrological processes on the CLP and possibly in other water-limited regions around the world. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved