Face and content validity of smoking-related and matched control pictures

Smoking-related pictures and matched controls are useful tools in experimental tasks of attentional bias. Noteworthy the procedures used to produce and validate these pairs of pictures are poorly reported. This study aimed to describe the production and evidence of validity of a set of smoking-related pictures and their matched controls. Two studies were conducted to assess validity. An online internet-based survey was used to assess face validity of 12 pictures related to smoking behavior and 12 matched controls. All pictures were colored and were 95mm length x 130mm width. Participants were asked if the pictures were related or not to the smoking behavior and also rated how much each picture was related to smoking behavior. The second study investigated attentional bias in smokers (n = 47) and non-smokers (n = 50), and examined how they assessed all pictures in terms of pleasantness and the 12 smoking-related pictures in terms of relevance to their own smoking behavior. Craving was assessed before and after the experiment. Results indicate that this set of pictures are valid since smoking-related pictures were considered more related to smoking behavior compared to their matched controls. Moreover, smokers showed greater attentional bias for smoking-related pictures than non-smokers. Craving and relevance of the smoking-related pictures were higher in smokers than in non-smokers. Smokers considered smoking-related pictures them less unpleasant than non-smokers. These findings provide evidence of face and content validity of this set of pictures, which will be available to researchers, contributing to maximize the standardization of future investigations.

Visual processing of concentric sine-wave gratings in adolescents and adults

The aim of this study was to compare the contrast visual processing of concentric sinusoidal gratings stimuli between adolescents and adults. The study included 20 volunteers divided into two groups: 10 adolescents aged 13-19 years (M=16.5, SD=1.65) and 10 adults aged 20-26 years (M=21.8, SD=2.04). In order to measure the contrast sensitivity at spatial frequencies of 0.6, 2.5, 5 and 20 degrees of visual angle (cpd), it was used the psychophysical method of two alternative forced choice (2AFC). A One Way ANOVA performance showed a significant difference in the comparison between groups: F [(4, 237)=3.74, p<.05]. The post-hoc Tukey HSD showed a significant difference between the frequencies of 0.6 (p <.05) and 20 cpd (p<.05). Thus, the results showed that the visual perception behaves differently with regard to the sensory mechanisms that render the contrast towards adolescents and adults. These results are useful to better characterize and comprehend human vision development.

The parallel diplomacy and the International Relations of the regions

The inclusion of subnational entities in international politics, breaks with the exclusive privilege of handling external relations by the States. Regions and municipalities have developed international policies that strengthen local affairs in cultural, economic, politic, security and strategic cooperation aspects, through the so-called parallel diplomacy activities. The influence of regional institutions in global affairs is growing; however paradiplomacy practice is not institutionalized and received little attention in international relation studies.

Modelling official and parallel exchange rates in Colombia under alternative regimes: a non-linear approach

We examine the long-run relationship between the parallel and the official exchange rate in Colombia over two regimes; a crawling peg period and a more flexible crawling band one. The short-run adjustment process of the parallel rate is examined both in a linear and a nonlinear context. We find that the change from the crawling peg to the crawling band regime did not affect the long-run relationship between the official and parallel exchange rates, but altered the short-run dynamics. Non-linear adjustment seems appropriate for the first period, mainly due to strict foreign controls that cause distortions in the transition back to equilibrium once disequilibrium occurs

La autonomía y descentralización del modelo federal venezolano. Una mutación del federalismo dual en el marco del ordenamiento latinoamericano

En la presente investigación se estudió la organización administrativa y territorial de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, para poder identificar si se podían definir y catalogar a Venezuela como un Estado federal como manda su Constitución, o si por el contrario, podríamos estar hablando de una organización distinta llámese autonómica o unitaria, o simplemente un modelo federal diferente al dual influenciado por las diferentes formas de organización.