James Rogers | University of Maryland Global Campus (original) (raw)

Papers by James Rogers

IEEE Transactions on Geoscience Electronics, 1971

An experiment that has been designed to yield the dielectric and loss properties of the ice cap n... more An experiment that has been designed to yield the dielectric and loss properties of the ice cap near Byrd Station, Antarctica, in the very low-frequency range, subsequent to proper interpretation of the input admittance of an electrically short dipole probe, is described. The probe is lowered into a deep drill hole, together with appropriate measuring and telemetering equipment, in order that the parameters of interest may be recorded as functions of vertical depth and frequency. The motivation for such an experiment is discussed and the environmental conditions described, insofar as they restrict the kinds of experimental procedures that can be carried out with reasonable safety and economy. The measurement technique itself is outlined, together with some background material concerning the use of a dipole antenna as a probe for exploring the properties of the medium in which it is immersed. Also discussed is a related experiment performed to provide a check on the method. It involved the use of the same probe and instrumentation to measure the complex permittivity of sawdust, a lossy dielectric material. The results are shown to be in good agreement with those obtained by a more conventional laboratcry ricthod.

Proceedings of the 2010 SIAM International Conference on Data Mining, 2010

Given a collection of Boolean spatio-temporal(ST) event types, the cascading spatio-temporal patt... more Given a collection of Boolean spatio-temporal(ST) event types, the cascading spatio-temporal pattern (CSTP) discovery process finds partially ordered subsets of event-types whose instances are located together and occur in stages. For example, analysis of crime datasets may reveal frequent occurrence of misdemeanors and drunk driving after bar closings on weekends and after large gatherings such as football games. Discovering CSTPs from ST datasets is important for application domains such as public safety (e.g. crime attractors and generators) and natural disaster planning(e.g. hurricanes). However, CSTP discovery is challenging for several reasons, including both the lack of computationally efficient, statistically meaningful metrics to quantify interestingness, and the large cardinality of candidate pattern sets that are exponential in the number of event types. Existing literature for ST data mining focuses on mining totally ordered sequences or unordered subsets. In contrast, this paper models CSTPs as partially ordered subsets of Boolean ST event types. We propose a new CSTP interest measure (the Cascade Participation Index) that is computationally cheap(O(n 2) vs. exponential, where n is the dataset size) as well as statistically meaningful. We propose a novel algorithm exploiting the ST nature of datasets and evaluate filtering strategies to quickly prune uninteresting candidates. We present a case study to find CSTPs from real crime reports and provide a statistical explanation. Experimental results indicate that the proposed multiresolution spatiotemporal(MST) filtering strategy leads to significant savings in computational costs.

The high PRA values of kidney re-transplant candidates may be due to a single antibody specific f... more The high PRA values of kidney re-transplant candidates may be due to a single antibody specific for widely shared "public epitopes" rather than many different antibodies specific for "private epitopes". Aim of this study was characterize HLA-A and HLA-B antibodies detected in sera from 2 patients showing spread HLA Class I antibody patterns after loss of a kidney graft. We also tried to define the "immunizing epitope/s" whose recognition determined alloantibody development. Methods: Identification of the detected HLA-A and H LAB antibodies (FlowPRA values: 79% and 64% respectively) was performed using flow cytometric techniques (FlowPRA and/or LabScreen HLA Class I Single Antigen beads). The patients (L.M. and M.M.) had had a poor survival of the previous graft (6 and 2 months respectively). HLA Class I mismatches of the first graft were B8 for L.M and A23, B44 and B49 for M.M. Scope: In both patients, HLA antibody characterization evidenced formation of antibodies directed against all the HLA-B molecules present on the Single Antigen beads except for B63, B57, B58 and B46. Patients' HLA-B typings were B57 or B58 and B63. It is to underline that antibodies specific for all but one (B63) B15 molecules were found. The comparison of amino acid sequences of B63 to those of the other B15 molecules using an online database (www.ebi.ac.uk/imgt/hla/index/html) evidenced 7 mismatched residues (4S, 65Q, 66I, 69T, 70N, 71T, 103V). Searching for the potential immunizing epitope/s, we compared amino acid sequences of recipient HLA class I molecules to those of entire HLA-B antibody patterns. In both cases, we found that the 66I mismatched residue was responsible of the detected HLA-B alloantibodies. It is noteworthy that the 66I residue was present in the mismatched donor HLA-B molecules (B8 for L.M. and B44, B49 for M.M.). The position 66 also represents a particular site for HLA-A molecules. In fact, only HLA-A2, A9 and A34 have a K in this position, while all the other HLA-A molecules presented N in the same position. In an our previous study we found 2 patients which received HLA-A3 mismatched grafts and developed a spread HLA-A antibody patterns. In these two cases, the comparison of amino acid sequences of patient HLA class I molecules and those of the corresponding HLA-A antibody patterns showed that 66N residue represents the "immunizing" epitope responsible for production of all the HLA-A antibodies. Conclusions: All these findings demonstrated that the recognition by the recipient immune system of some "particular" HLA polymorphisms restricted to few molecules determines the formation of a spread antibody pattern. In our two HLA-B sensitized patients, re-transplant could be only possible with HLA-B-matched donor. So, application of an epitope-based matching could minimize HLA diversity and could enhance graft outcome in renal transplantation.

AAPS Advances in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Series, 2014

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) currently affects over 36 million people worldwide, without any approved... more Alzheimer’s disease (AD) currently affects over 36 million people worldwide, without any approved disease-modifying products capable of slowing or arresting the disease, and prevalence expected to triple by 2050. Clinical trial failures attributable to design aspects could be reduced by developing drug-disease-trial (DDT) models suitable for clinical trial simulations (CTSs). To achieve this, noncompetitive sharing of standardized patient-level data is critical. Initiatives such as the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) or Critical Path Institute’s Coalition Against Major Diseases (CAMD) database have become foundational to the quantitative understanding of disease progression and clinical trial design aspects in AD. Understanding the performance of cognitive and functional outcome measures is also fundamental to the development of applicable CTS tools; especially under the current state of affairs, in which efforts are now being focused on pre-dementia stages (i.e., mild cognitive impairment, MCI). These CTS tools will likely be more successful under noncompetitive collaborations, and utilizing expertise and learnings from health authorities, sponsors, and academia, the CTS tool builds on key findings and structural elements from previous researchers while providing further refinements. This chapter describes relevant efforts in modeling and simulation utilizing DDT models in AD, focusing on cognition. This includes data considerations and descriptions of relevant public data sources available for AD model developers. It includes a brief description of previous work in the field, along with a description of common elements contained within DDT models currently used for CTS in AD. Examples of applications for study planning and study interpretation among other potential uses are also included. It concludes with a look at potential future applications of CTS in AD and areas for growth.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 1994

We report the use of an ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide colloid AMI-as an oral contrast a... more We report the use of an ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide colloid AMI-as an oral contrast agent. Due to the small size, AMI-has a larger effect on Tl than larger superparamagnetic iron oxides colloids like ferumoxsil. At 2 T, AMI-had an RJR, of 11.4 compared with an RJR1 for the superparamagnetic iron oxide ferumoxsil of 179. The Rls of the two agents were 7.1 and 1.6 mM-r s-l, for AMI-and ferumoxsil, respectively. Due to its smaller RJR,, orally administered AMI-can produce brightening or darkening of the lumen of the the GI tract, depending on instrument parameters. At 1 mM Fe, image brightening (2 T, TR = 300, TE = 25) or image darkening of the GI tract (2 T, TR = 1500, TE = 80) was obtained. The ability of AMIto produce either image brightening or darkening suggests it may be useful as an MR contrast agent for the GI tract.

Proceedings of the 32nd annual meeting on Association for Computational Linguistics -, 1994

We define a decidable class of TAGs that is strongly equivalent to CFGs and is cubic-time parsabl... more We define a decidable class of TAGs that is strongly equivalent to CFGs and is cubic-time parsable. This class serves to lexicalize CFGs in the same manner as the LCFGs of Schabes and Waters but with considerably less restriction on the form of the grammars. The class provides a normal form for TAGs that generate local sets in much the same way that regular grammars provide a normal form for CFGs that generate regular sets. * The work reported here owes a great deal to extensive discussions with K. Vijay-Shanker. 1 We will refer to equivalence of the sets of trees generated by two grammars or classes of grammars as strong equivalence. Equivalence of their string languages will be referred to as weak equivalence. 2 Technically, the sets of trees generated by TAGs in the class are recognizable sets. The local and recognizable sets are equivalent modulo projection. We discuss the distinction in the next section.

International Studies Review, 2014

The Return of Geopolitics in Europe: Social Mechanisms and Foreign Policy Identity Crises. Edited... more The Return of Geopolitics in Europe: Social Mechanisms and Foreign Policy Identity Crises. Edited by Guzzini Stefano. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013. 322 pp., £68.00 hardback (ISBN 978-1-107-02734-3). The academic field of geopolitics has experienced something of a resurgence in recent years, driven by a changing international environment and advances in the field of critical geopolitics. Moreover, with the growth of—perhaps temporary—questions relating to the future of European integration after the 2008–2009 financial crisis, there has been particular interest in the field of European geopolitics. From a more classical perspective, analysts like Simon and Rogers (2010, 2011), Kaplan (2012), and Grygiel (2012) have sought to chart the changing geopolitical dynamics on the European continent, tracing the role played by the European great powers as they jostle for wealth and power—even during European integration. At the same time, critical geopolitical analysts have sought to analyze the discourses sustaining the geopolitical perspective and worldview, which, despite their hopes to the contrary, refuse to die away. The Return of Geopolitics in Europe —edited by Stefano Guzzini—is informed decidedly by the second camp, but does something quite unique in that it focuses on the return of geopolitical thinking within Europe before—and not after—the 2008–2009 financial crisis, and its related economic and political fallout. As Guzzini puts it: “a movement to a more Hobbesian culture happened not despite the end of the cold war but because of it” (p. 5). This book therefore shows that—contrary to received wisdom—many European countries witnessed a resurgence of geopolitical thinking after the Cold War, …

Depression, 1996

Preliminary results from a study of psychodynamic constructs are presented based on data from inp... more Preliminary results from a study of psychodynamic constructs are presented based on data from inpatients following a suicide attempt. The study examines the association between four psychodynamic constructs, severity of suicidal intent, and severity of depressive symptomatology in a sample of hospitalized suicide attempters. Higher levels of suicidal intent were associated with less differentiated selfand object representations and less emotional investment in relationships. More severe depressive symptoms in suicide attempters were correlated with more self-targeted anger, less eternally directed anger, higher levels ofshame and guilt, more affectively negative views ofrelationships, greater use of maladaptive and self-sacrificing defenses, and more impaired reality testing. These findings offer some preliminary empirical support for the validity of psychodynamic theories of suicidal behavior. Depression 4:89-91 (1996).

Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 2002

The present investigation surveyed 162 self-identified lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals rec... more The present investigation surveyed 162 self-identified lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals recruited from LGB-related social organizations or contacted through networking procedures with regard to suicidal behaviors, suicide risk factors, and reasons for living. Approximately 41% of the respondents indicated a serious consideration of suicide including the identification of a specific suicide plan (23%) or a past suicide attempt (36%) with significant intent to die (13%). Forty-six percent of the sample indicated at least some degree of chance of attempting suicide in the future. Grounded in the existential-constructivist theory of suicide (Rogers, 2001), empirically and theoretically identified suicide risk factors were found as a group to predict suicidal ideation (R2 = .16) and attempts (R2 = .17), with abuse-related items independently predicting both suicidal ideation (R2 = .03) and attempts (R2 = .08). Items related to self-identity issues and social acceptance were predictive of suicidal ideation (R2 = .04), while substance abuse was predictive of suicidal ideation (R2 = .05) and attempts (R2 = .13) for males only. The established factor structure of the Reasons for Living Inventory (Linehan et al., 1983) was not supported in the current data, suggesting that it may not be an appropriate measure of reasons for living with LGB individuals.

Psychological Reports, 2010

Data from 1376 respondents on a 1994 scale to measure depressive and manic experiences devised by... more Data from 1376 respondents on a 1994 scale to measure depressive and manic experiences devised by Thalbourne, Delin, and Bassett (1994) were analyzed. Internal consistency reliability estimates for the Total scale (.66), the Depressive subscale (.63), and the Manic subscale (.45) were poor to marginal, and a confirmatory factor analysis did not support the two-subscale structure of the scale. These results, considered in conjunction with those of previous psychometric analyses of the Manic-Depressive Scale, cast doubt on its usefulness for research and clinical use.

Maternal and Child Health Journal, 2007

Objectives This research investigated the differences and disparities of postpartum depression in... more Objectives This research investigated the differences and disparities of postpartum depression in a sample of African American, Hispanic, Native American, and White women. Methods A sample of 586 women were administered the Beck-Gable PDSS at 6-weeks postpartum. Factor analysis was applied to analyze the similarities among African American, Hispanic, Native American, and White participants. Confidence intervals of the rates of depression by group were estimated, followed by statistical tests to determine the differences among these rates. Risk assessment was performed with factor analysis and correlation methods. Results Hispanic women had a remarkably lower depression rate (2.5%) than other groups (P-values \ 0.05). Significant differences for major depression were not found among African American, Native American, and White women; but Whites had higher minor depression (P-values \ 0.05). Native American women had the highest rate of major depression (18.7%) and an average minor depression (10.5%). Although Whites had the second highest major depression (17.6%) and the highest minor depression (19.6%), their average full score (76.1) was noticeably lower than that of Native Americans (82.9) and slightly lower than that of African Americans (78.9; major and minor depression rates: 14.8% and 9.9%). The sample also demonstrated strong associations of depression with depression history and breastfeeding. Conclusion Statistically, postpartum depression can be ranked from high to low as Native Americans, Whites, African Americans and Hispanics (Hispanics have remarkably lower depression rates). This information is critically important to clinicians, researchers, agency administrators and social workers who work with these populations.

Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 1997

This paper presents results from an empirical study of four key psychodynamic concepts (self-dire... more This paper presents results from an empirical study of four key psychodynamic concepts (self-directed aggression, object loss, ego functioning disturbance, pathological object relations) of suicidal behavior. The sample consists of hospitalized psychiatric patients following a suicide attempt (attempters: n = 52) and demographically similar hospitalized psychiatric patients with no history of suicidal behavior (controls: n = 47). The study was designed to ascertain whether attempters differed from matched psychiatric control patients on the four psychodynamic constructs hypothesized to be associated with suicide. It was predicted that attempters would manifest higher levels of depression and selftargeted anger, a more significant history of loss, less adaptive defenses, and more primitive object representations. Results strongly supported an object-relational view of suicidal behavior. In addition, support for the loss hypothesis was found in the identification of one specific constellation of losses. Namely, attempters were significantly more likely to report a history of childhood loss combined with a recent loss in adulthood than were their nonattempter counterparts. Limited support was provided for the other two hypotheses in differentiating suicidal from nonsuicidal severely ill psychiatric patients. This unexpected finding is examined and suggestions are made for the refinement and greater specification of psychodynamic theories regarding the etiology of suicidal behavior, with the aim of differentiating individuals prone to such action from those with similar psychopathology and dynamic issues who do not actually attempt suicide. Limitations of the study are discussed and implications of the findings for the theory and treatment of suicidal behavior are offered.

Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 2013

BACKGROUND: Surgical site infections (SSI) are a major cause of morbidity in surgical patients an... more BACKGROUND: Surgical site infections (SSI) are a major cause of morbidity in surgical patients and they increase health care costs considerably. Colorectal surgery is consistently associated with high SSI rates. No single intervention has demonstrated efficacy in reducing colorectal SSIs. The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) is a nationally validated system that uses clinically abstracted data on surgical patients and their outcomes to assist participating institutions drive quality improvement. STUDY DESIGN: A multidisciplinary team was assembled to develop a colorectal SSI-reduction bundle at an academic tertiary care medical center. The ACS NSQIP data were used to identify patterns of SSIs during a 2-year period. Multiple interventions across the entire surgical episode of care were developed and implemented in January 2011. Monthly ACS NSQIP data were used to track progress. RESULTS: Our ACS NSQIP overall colorectal SSI rate for 2009 and 2010 was 9.8%. One year after implementation of the SSI reduction bundle, we demonstrated a significant decline (p < 0.05) in both overall and superficial SSIs, to 4.0% and 1.5%, respectively. Organ space infections declined to 2.6%, which was not a significant change (p ¼ 0.10). During the entire analysis period (2009 to 2011), there was no change in our colorectal-specific Surgical Care Improvement Program performance. CONCLUSIONS: Using our ACS NSQIP colorectal SSI outcomes, a multidisciplinary team designed a colorectal SSI reduction bundle that resulted in a substantial and sustained reduction in SSIs. Our study is not able to identify which specific elements contributed to the reduction.

Journal of Counseling & Development, 2007

A sample of 40 suicide notes were analyzed for motivational content in relation to an existential... more A sample of 40 suicide notes were analyzed for motivational content in relation to an existential-constructivist theory of suicide. Results generally supported the 4 theoretical categories of somatic, relational, spiritual, and psychological motivations, with 39 notes having content that could be classified according to the aforementioned categories. Psychological motivations were found to be the most prevalent, followed by relational, spiritual, and somatic concerns. Notes of completed suicides included more relational motivations than did those of suicide attempters, and older writers of notes showed more psychological and fewer spiritual motivations than did younger writers. Recommendations are offered for revising the theory to provide a stronger meaning-based understanding of suicidal behavior.

Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2002

BACKGROUND: A variety of studies have investigated asthma mortality and the mortality of athletes... more BACKGROUND: A variety of studies have investigated asthma mortality and the mortality of athletes during sports, but there are no data describing asthma as the cause of death in competitive athletes. METHODS: The Temple Sports Asthma Research Center identified athletes from July 1993 until December 2000 who died during or following sporting activity using the nationwide Burrell's information service. Once a death was identified, a request for a copy of the autopsy was made to the local coroner or medical examiner and an attempt was made to contact the family. The contact with the family was limited to information about the death, past medical history, sports involvement and any medication usage by the person who had died. Also, all verifiable information that was published in news reports were used to determine if the subject died of asthma during or immediately following a sporting activity. RESULTS: Two hundred and sixty-three cases were identified. Sixtyone deaths met criteria for study occlusion. Nearly a two to one ratio of Caucasian to African American, and males to females, were found. The majority of the subjects were under the age of twenty years, with the most prevalent age group being between 10 to 14 years of age. Approximately half (32) Of the subjects were between 13 and 17 years old. Fifty-one percent (18/35) of the athletes had their fatal event while participating in their organized sport with four deaths occurring during a competitive event. Basketball was followed by track/running as the two most frequent activities that were being performed at the time of the fatal event. CONCLUSION: Sudden fatal asthma occurs in both competitive and recreational athletes during or immediately following a sporting activity. These subjects are usually Caucasian males between the ages of ten and twenty years. Females are also reported to be affected, but at a slightly lower number. Mild intermittent or persistent asthma by history was commonly identified.

Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology, 2005

... JAMES ROGERS1 and JOHN SIMONSEN2,∗ 1 509 Washington Street, Oregon City, OR 97045, USA 2 Depa... more ... JAMES ROGERS1 and JOHN SIMONSEN2,∗ 1 509 Washington Street, Oregon City, OR 97045, USA 2 Department of Wood Science and Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-5751 ... PP was added to the Braben-der mixer at 180 ◦ C and mixed for 10 min. ...