Local Visual Processing in High Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Scorers.

<p>Reaction times for big and small letters (global and local levels) were compared and examined to see whether differences would occur between a low scoring and high scoring Obsessive- Compulsive Disorder (OCD) group. OCD patients have been shown to notice and pay more attention to small details (local bias) compared to most other populations (Shapiro, 1965; Yovel et al. 2006; Caberea et al., 2001). Although there is research supporting a local bias in OCD patients, it is unclear whether the bias occurs in the early stages of visual processing or in a later memory stage (Moritz & Wendt, 2006; Hermans et al, 2008). The study specifically examined a potential local bias for high OCD scorers in the early visual stage by manipulating perceptual and attentional mechanisms in two hierarchical letter tasks (Navon, 1977; Miller, 1981a, Plaisted et al. 1999). In Experiment 1, participants were told which level (the big or small letter) to respond to, results showed that high OCD scorers responded faster to local letters, showing support for a local processing advantage. Conversely, the low OCD group responded quicker to the global level. The finding of a local advantage in Experiment 1 suggests that the local advantage may be due to perceptual mechanisms as attention was already directed to the relevant level. However, in Experiment 2 where attention was not directed and the image quality was manipulated, local and global advantage effects were not replicated for the high and low OCD groups respectively. This showed that attentional and perceptual mechanisms did not make one level easier to process over the other. Therefore, it is possible that any local bias for OCD patients occurs in a later processing stage.</p>

Local Visual Processing in High Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Scorers.

<p>Reaction times for big and small letters (global and local levels) were compared and examined to see whether differences would occur between a low scoring and high scoring Obsessive- Compulsive Disorder (OCD) group. OCD patients have been shown to notice and pay more attention to small details (local bias) compared to most other populations (Shapiro, 1965; Yovel et al. 2006; Caberea et al., 2001). Although there is research supporting a local bias in OCD patients, it is unclear whether the bias occurs in the early stages of visual processing or in a later memory stage (Moritz & Wendt, 2006; Hermans et al, 2008). The study specifically examined a potential local bias for high OCD scorers in the early visual stage by manipulating perceptual and attentional mechanisms in two hierarchical letter tasks (Navon, 1977; Miller, 1981a, Plaisted et al. 1999). In Experiment 1, participants were told which level (the big or small letter) to respond to, results showed that high OCD scorers responded faster to local letters, showing support for a local processing advantage. Conversely, the low OCD group responded quicker to the global level. The finding of a local advantage in Experiment 1 suggests that the local advantage may be due to perceptual mechanisms as attention was already directed to the relevant level. However, in Experiment 2 where attention was not directed and the image quality was manipulated, local and global advantage effects were not replicated for the high and low OCD groups respectively. This showed that attentional and perceptual mechanisms did not make one level easier to process over the other. Therefore, it is possible that any local bias for OCD patients occurs in a later processing stage.</p>

Estimation of Daily Reference Evapotranspiration from NASA POWER Reanalysis Products in a Hot Summer Mediterranean Climate

This study aims at assessing the accuracy of estimating daily reference evapotranspiration (ETo) computed with NASA POWER reanalysis products. Daily ETo estimated from local observations of weather variables in 14 weather stations distributed across Alentejo Region, Southern Portugal were compared with ETo derived from NASA POWER weather data, using raw and bias-corrected datasets. Three different methods were used to compute ETo: (a) FAO Penman-Monteith (PM); (b) Hargreaves-Samani (HS); and (c) MaxTET. Results show that, when using raw NASA POWER datasets, a good accuracy between the observed ETo and reanalysis ETo was observed in most locations (R2 > 0.70). PM shows a tendency to over-estimating ETo with an RMSE as high as 1.41 mm d−1, while using a temperature-based ET estimation method, an RMSE lower than 0.92 mm d−1 is obtained. If a local bias correction is adopted, the temperature-based methods show a small over or underestimation of ETo (–0.40 mm d−1≤ MBE < 0.40 mm d−1). As for PM, ETo is still underestimated for 13 locations (MBE < 0 mm d−1) but with an RMSE never higher than 0.77 mm d−1. When NASA POWER raw data is used to estimate ETo, HS_Rs proved the most accurate method, providing the lowest RMSE for half the locations. However, if a data regional bias correction is used, PM leads to the most accurate ETo estimation for half the locations; also, when a local bias correction is performed, PM proved the be the most accurate ETo estimation method for most locations. Nonetheless, MaxTET proved to be an accurate method; its simplicity may prove to be successful not only when only maximum temperature data is available but also due to the low data required for ETo estimation.

THE EFFECTS OF SPATIAL ATTENTION AND EMOTIONS ON GLOBAL AND LOCAL PROCESSES

Present study is designed to investigate modulations in global-local processes by emotions and spatial cues. Aim was to investigate the effect of emotions on global-local bias and to examine if symbolic cues modulate these processes by simultaneously presenting the cue and emotional picture. Using the Navon (1977) figures, participants were presented with (in)congruent displays formed by the (in)congruency between the global and local features. Before presenting the displays, emotional (Experiment 1A: positive, Experiment 1B: negative) or neutral picture was presented simultaneously with global, local or neutral symbolic arrow cues, used as spatial cues to bias attention in global and local levels respectively. Participants were then asked to choose one stimulus out of three options. Chosen stimulus is expected to indicate the bias of participants. Reaction time and global-local preference measurements were analyzed. Reaction time was not modulated by any of the factors. The global/local bias measurements revealed a shift from local to global bias in the presence of negative emotion. The findings reveal information on global and local processes by adapting new methodological approach. Keywords Global and local processes, positive and negative emotions, global cue, local cue, global-local preference

Bias correction of radar and satellite rainfall estimates and increasing its accuracy using modified merging

Bias correction in the weather radar and the tropical rainfall measuring mission (TRMM) rainfall estimates are used to improve its accuracy. This correction is usually done separately for both radar and TRMM. Even though the corrections are done separately, the results of these corrections can be further improved using the merging. Among the methods of merging, modified local bias, mean field bias and conditional merging may be suitable methods used to correct rainfall estimates from remote sensing surrounding in the Makassar Strait. The aim of this research corrects radar and TRMM rainfall estimates, then combining them to obtain more accurate rainfall estimates. The performance will be validated using correlation, root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE). The result shows that modified mean field bias (Mod_MFB) and local bias (LB) can increase accuracy, mainly RMSE and MAE but not in correlation. However, conditional merging (CM) and modified LB can improve accuracy by increasing correlation and decrease RMSE and MAE. The modification of CM, LB modification and original estimation of remote sensing successively are the order of the best methods. Moreover, merging three data types is not automatically better than merging the two types of data. However, combination 3 types of data offer the stability of accuracy.

The geography of business angel investments in the UK: Does local bias (still) matter?

Business angels (BAs) - high net worth individuals who provide informal risk capital to firms - are seen as important providers of entrepreneurial finance. Theory and conventional wisdom suggest that the need for face-to-face interaction will ensure angels will have a strong predilection for local investments. We empirically test this assumption using a large representative survey of UK BAs. Our results show local bias is less common than previously thought with only one quarter of total investments made locally. However, we also show pronounced regional disparities, with investment activity dominated by BAs in London and Southern England. In these locations there is a stronger propensity for localised investment patterns mediated by the ‘thick’ nature of the informal risk capital market. Together these trends further reinforce and exacerbate the disparities evident in the UK’s financial system. The findings make an important contribution to the literature and public policy debates on the uneven nature of financial markets for sources of entrepreneurial finance.