Auburn University at Montgomery

About 17% of humanity goes through an episode of major depression at some point in their lifetime. Despite the enormous societal costs of this incapacitating disorder, it is largely unknown how the likelihood of falling into a depressive episode can be assessed. Here, we show for a large group of healthy individuals and patients that the probability of an upcoming shift between a depressed and a normal state is related to elevated temporal autocorrelation, variance, and correlation between emotions in fluctuations of autorecorded emotions. These are indicators of the general phenomenon of critical slowing down, which is expected to occur when a system approaches a tipping point. Our results support the hypothesis that mood may have alternative stable states separated by tipping points, and suggest an approach for assessing the likelihood of transitions into and out of depression.

This essay explores four answers to the question 'What kinds of things are psychiatric disorders?' Essentialist kinds are classes whose members share an essence from which their defining features arise. Although elegant and appropriate for some physical (e.g. atomic elements) and medical (e.g. Mendelian disorders) phenomena, this model is inappropriate for psychiatric disorders, which are multi-factorial and 'fuzzy'. Socially constructed kinds are classes whose members are defined by the cultural context in which they arise. This model excludes the importance of shared physiological mechanisms by which the same disorder could be identified across different cultures. Advocates of practical kinds put off metaphysical questions about 'reality' and focus on defining classes that are useful. Practical kinds models for psychiatric disorders, implicit in the DSM nosologies, do not require that diagnoses be grounded in shared causal processes. If psychiatry seeks to tie disorders to etiology and underlying mechanisms, a model first proposed for biological species, mechanistic property cluster (MPC) kinds, can provide a useful framework. MPC kinds are defined not in terms of essences but in terms of complex, mutually reinforcing networks of causal mechanisms. We argue that psychiatric disorders are objectively grounded features of the causal structure of the mind/brain. MPC kinds are fuzzy sets defined by mechanisms at multiple levels that act and interact to produce the key features of the kind. Like species, psychiatric disorders are populations with central paradigmatic and more marginal members. The MPC view is the best current answer to 'What kinds of things are psychiatric disorders?'

The assumption that work and family are separate domains with little cross-impact has been increasingly questioned. Drawing on a sample of 423 male and 335 female accounting professionals, this study evaluates a model of the process by which work-related role stress and parental demands interact to influence job satisfaction and marital satisfaction and, ultimately, overall life satisfaction. Results indicate general support for the hypothesized model, revealing only minor sex differences. The relationship between parental demands and life satisfaction was mediated by satisfaction with childcare arrangementsfor women, but not men, with young children at home.

= 5579) are traded globally. Trade is strongly phylogenetically conserved, and the hotspots of this trade are concentrated in the biologically diverse tropics. Using different assessment approaches, we predict that, owing to their phylogenetic replacement and trait similarity to currently traded species, future trade will affect up to 3196 additional species-totaling 8775 species at risk of extinction from trade. Our assessment underscores the need for a strategic plan to combat trade with policies that are proactive rather than reactive, which is especially important because species can quickly transition from being safe to being endangered as humans continue to harvest and trade across the tree of life.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a research model that investigates the effects of user experience with information technology (IT) on user satisfaction with and continual usage intention of the technology. The research model uses the concept of cognitive absorption (CA) to conceptualize the optimal holistic experience that users feel when using IT. A set of hypotheses are proposed regarding the direct and indirect effects of CA on user satisfaction through the perceived utilitarian and hedonic performance and expectation disconfirmation of IT. An online survey was conducted to test the model and its associated hypotheses. The results provided support for the hypothesized effects of CA and indicated its importance for the formation of post-adoption satisfaction and continuance intention with IT.

Likert, Likert-type, and ordinal-scale responses are very popular psychometric item scoring schemes for attempting to quantify people's opinions, interests, or perceived efficacy of an intervention and are used extensively in Physical Education and Exercise Science research. However, these numbered measures are generally considered ordinal and violate some statistical assumptions needed to evaluate them as normally distributed, parametric data. This is an issue because parametric statistics are generally perceived as being more statistically powerful than non-parametric statistics. To avoid possible misinterpretation, care must be taken in analyzing these types of data. The use of visual analog scales may be equally efficacious and provide somewhat better data for analysis with parametric statistics.

We investigate the occurrence of bubble-crash pricing patterns in laboratory financial markets with a mixture of experienced and inexperienced traders. We find that even with a minority of experienced traders, bubbles are substantially abated.

ABSTRACT This paper examines why smart cities are growing by investigating who moves to smart cities and who stays. Smart cities are often centers of higher education, so students moving to pursue higher education may play an important role. I find that the greater in-migration to smart cities is mostly due to persons enrolled in higher education. Smart cities are growing in part because in-migrants often stay in the city after completing their education. The growth of smart cities is also mostly attributable to population redistribution within the same state and has little effect on population growth at the state level.

Current ecological and evolutionary research are increasingly moving from species- to trait-based approaches because traits provide a stronger link to organism's function and fitness. Trait databases covering a large number of species are becoming available, but such data remains scarce for certain groups. Amphibians are among the most diverse vertebrate groups on Earth, and constitute an abundant component of major terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. They are also facing rapid population declines worldwide, which is likely to affect trait composition in local communities, thereby impacting ecosystem processes and services. In this context, we introduce AmphiBIO, a comprehensive database of natural history traits for amphibians worldwide. The database releases information on 17 traits related to ecology, morphology and reproduction features of amphibians. We compiled data from more than 1,500 literature sources, and for more than 6,500 species of all orders (Anura, Caudata and Gymnophiona), 61 families and 531 genera. This database has the potential to allow unprecedented large-scale analyses in ecology, evolution, and conservation of amphibians.

) determine the overlap of these regions with the locations of threatened species and existing protected areas. We show that priority areas for mammal conservation exhibit low overlap across the three dimensions, highlighting the need for an integrative approach for biodiversity conservation. Additionally, currently protected areas poorly represent the three dimensions of mammalian biodiversity. We identify areas of high conservation priority among and across the dimensions that should receive special attention for expanding the global protected area network. These high-priority areas, combined with areas of high priority for other taxonomic groups and with social, economic, and political considerations, provide a biological foundation for future conservation planning efforts.

Little is known about the context sensitivity of users’ online security perceptions and behaviors to national and individual attributes, and there is inadequate research about the spectrum of users’ behaviors in dealing with online security threats. In addressing this gap, this paper draws on two complementary theoretical bases: (1) the contextualization of the protection motivation theory (PMT) to online security behavior and (2) a poly-contextual lens for the cross-national comparison of users’ security behaviors in the United States and China. The conceptualized model is tested based on 718 survey observations collected from the United States and China. The results support our model and show the divergence between the United States, an exemplar of modern Western society, and China, an exemplar of traditional Eastern society, in forming threat perceptions and in seeking help and avoidance as coping behaviors. Our results also uncovered the significant moderating impacts of espoused culture on the way perceptions of security threats and coping appraisals influence security behaviors. Our findings underline the importance of context-sensitive theory building in security research and provide insights into the motivators and moderators of individuals’ online security behaviors in the two nations.

One of the major challenges facing all online retailers, especially small online retailers, is how to initiate consumer trust. This study examines the nature of this unique type of consumer trust by proposing the concept of “cue-based trust.” It also examines the signaling role of various cues in building initial trust and the behavioral consequences involved. A 2 5–1 factorial experiment was conducted with sample size of 402 to explore the signaling effects of five cues of interest in this study: seals of approval, return policy, awards from neutral sources, security disclosures, and privacy disclosures. The online study supported the signaling roles of most of these cues. Findings can be summarized as follows: (a) security disclosures and awards from neutral sources were found to enhance cue-based trust which, in turn, positively influenced two behavioral responses—bookmarking intentions and willingness to provide personal information, and (b) seals of approval and privacy disclosures were found to directly encourage consumers’ willingness to provide personal information while awards from neutral sources were found to directly encourage bookmarking intentions. Implications for online retailers and future theoretical studies are discussed.

This study examined the ability of prior academic performance, proxy efficacy, and academic self‐efficacy to predict college academic performance. Participants ( N = 202) completed a modified version of the Teacher Collective Efficacy scale ( Goddard, 2001 ), the Academic Self‐Efficacy scale ( Elias & Loomis, 2000 ), and a demographic questionnaire. Prior performance was predictive of both academic self‐efficacy beliefs and college performance. Hierarchical regression analysis indicates that academic self‐efficacy beliefs explain a significant amount of unique variance beyond past performance in predicting college performance. Proxy efficacy did serve as a predictor of student academic self‐efficacy, but did not serve as a predictor of college performance. Implications for instructors, as well as for future research, are discussed.

This article addresses the use of a massively multiplayer online role‐playing game (MMORPG) to foster communication and interaction and to facilitate cooperative learning in an online course. The authors delineate the definition and history of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), and describe current uses of MMORPGs in education, including their experiences with constructing and using the MMORPG Second Life. In addition, the authors detail with practical examples the process of using MMORPGs to support cooperative learning activities, and explore future uses and research questions for using MMORPGs in education and training.

This article explores friendship within the entrepreneurial team with particular attention to its association with the team's behavior and the performance of the venture. Building on a foundation in the literatures on friendship, entrepreneurial teams, and strategic decisions, we propose 13 such relationships. Friendship facilitates the formation of management teams for new ventures, thereby improving their early performance. As the entrepreneurial team continues to function, friendship is conducive to decision-making processes that enhance the team's effectiveness in solving “wicked” problems and ultimately improve the venture's performance. Friendships, under different circumstances, may exert either positive or negative influences on turnover within the entrepreneurial team, and those influences may improve or impair the venture's performance. (At the same time, behavior within the team or events in the venture's development may affect friendships within the team.) Finally we develop and discuss several implications of our propositions for research and practice in entrepreneurship. We point out methodological considerations and directions for future research that would address these implications.

Alzheimer's disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a progressive loss of cognitive and behavioral abilities. Extracellular senile plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles are hallmarks of AD. Researchers aim to analyze the molecular mechanisms underlying AD pathogenesis; however, the therapeutic options available to treat this disease are inadequate. In the past few years, several studies have reported interesting insights about the neuroprotective properties of the polyphenolic compound resveratrol (3, 5, 4'-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene) when used with in vitro and in vivo models of AD. The aim of this review is to focus on the neuroprotective and antioxidant effects of resveratrol on AD and its multiple potential mechanisms of action. In addition, because the naturally occurring forms of resveratrol have a very limited half-life in plasma, a description of potential analogs aimed at increasing the bioavailability in plasma is also discussed.

Organizations are dynamic and changing entities. Variables associated with organizational change have been shown to serve as mediators of several individual difference variable/workrelated outcome relationships. This study examines three potential antecedents of 258 police officers' attitudes toward organizational change (ATOC), and whether ATOC mediates the relationships between these antecedents and affective organizational commitment (AOC). At the time of data collection, the officers' police department was restructuring its organizational design. Structural equation modeling indicates the growth need strength/AOC relationship is fully mediated, whereas the locus of control/AOC and internal work motivation/AOC relationships are partially mediated by ATOC. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the agreement of the vagal-related heart rate variability index, log-transformed root mean square of successive R-R intervals (lnRMSSD), measured under ultra-short-term conditions (< 60 seconds) with conventional longer term recordings of 5 minutes in collegiate athletes under resting and post-exercise conditions. Electrocardiographic readings were collected from twenty-three athletes within 5-minute segments at rest and at 25-30 minutes of supine recovery following a maximal exercise test. From each 5-minute segment, lnRMSSD was recorded as the criterion measure. Within each 5-minute segment, lnRMSSD was also determined from randomly selected ultra-short-term segments of 10-, 30-, and 60-seconds in length, which were compared to the criterion. When compared to the criterion measures, the significant intraclass correlation (from 0.98 to 0.81, p < 0.05) and typical error (from 0.11 to 0.34) increased as ultra-short-term measurement duration decreased (i.e., from 60 seconds to 10 seconds). In addition, the limits of agreement (Bias ± 1.98 SD) increased as ultra-short-term lnRMSSD duration decreased as follows: 0.00 ± 0.22 ms, -0.07 ± 0.41 ms, -0.20 ± 0.94 ms for the 60-, 30-, and 10-second pre-exercise segments, respectively, and -0.15 ± 0.39 ms, -0.14 ± 0.53 ms, -0.12 ± 0.76 ms for the 60-, 30-, and 10-second post-exercise segments, respectively. This study demonstrated that as ultra-short-term measurement duration decreased from 60 seconds to 10 seconds, the agreement to the criterion decreased. Therefore, 60 seconds appears to be an acceptable recording time for lnRMSSD data collection in collegiate athletes. Key PointsThe log-transformed root mean square of successive R-R intervals (lnRMSSD) is a vagal-related heart rate variability index that has become a promising method for monitoring individual adaptation to training when measured during resting or post-exercise conditions.This study demonstrated that lnRMSSD of the 60-second electrocardiogram segments could likely serve as an alternative to traditional 5-minute measures in resting and exercise recovery conditions.Due to the current results in athletes and previous investigation involving non-athletes, the utility of ultra-sound-term lnRMSSD measures, especially 60 seconds in duration, within field setting for monitoring athletes at rest and in response to stress appears promising.

The article investigated the relationship between death anxiety, attitudes toward older adults, and personal anxiety toward one's own aging in a group of 197 older men and women. As predicted, negative attitudes toward other older adults were predicted by personal anxieties about aging and death, and, more specifically, fear of the unknown. In addition, several distinctive anxieties were noted for particular subgroups of respondents. Older women scored higher on the Fear of the Dead subscale of the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale (MFODS) than did men. Caucasian participants displayed higher Fear of the Dying Process than did older African American participants. Lastly, older African American participants reported higher levels of death anxiety on 3 of the subscales of the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale (Fear of the Unknown, Fear of Conscious Death, and Fear for the Body after Death) when compared with older Caucasian participants and also tended to accord less social value to the elderly. These findings are interpreted in terms of patterns of socialization, and their implications for end-of-life care preferences are noted.

Despite criticism, the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) is one of the most widely cited measurement instruments in the stress literature. This research assesses several criticisms of the SRRS after years of widespread use. Specifically, the authors evaluate content-related criticisms, including differential prediction of desirable relative to undesirable life events, controllable relative to uncontrollable life events, and contaminated relative to uncontaminated life event items. On balance, the authors find that the SRRS is a useful tool for stress researchers and practitioners.