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Low participation of women in Computer Science (CS) has been documented in some countries. Since this phenomenon occurs in the Computer Science and Informatics Department at the Universidad de Costa Rica, we decided to investigate if there were gender differences in some factors, both motivating and inhibiting students to enter the field. Our main purpose was to see if those differences could help find factors influencing the imbalance of female participation. Both graduate and undergraduate populations were investigated. It was found that there were differences by gender in both populations. As a consequence of the knowledge of the field acquired during the permanence in the CS program and professional experience, both men and women change, although differently, their perceptions.

A correct understanding about how computers run code is mandatory in order to effectively learn to program. Lectures have historically been used in programming courses to teach how computers execute code, and students are assessed through traditional evaluation methods, such as exams. Constructivism learning theory objects to students’ passiveness during lessons, and traditional quantitative methods for evaluating a complex cognitive process such as understanding. Constructivism proposes complimentary techniques, such as conceptual contraposition and colloquies. We enriched lectures of a “Programming II” (CS2) course combining conceptual contraposition with program memory tracing, then we evaluated students’ understanding of programming concepts through colloquies. Results revealed that these techniques applied to the lecture are insufficient to help students develop satisfactory mental models of the C++ notional machine, and colloquies behaved as the most comprehensive traditional evaluations conducted in the course.

Nowadays Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) applications are increasingly successful in the air traffic (ATC) domain. Paramount to achieving this is collecting enough data for speech recognition model training. Thousands of hours of ATC communication are recorded every day. However, the transcription of these data sets is resource intense, i.e. writing down the sequence of spoken words, and more importantly, interpreting the relevant semantics. Many different approaches including CPDLC (Controller Pilot Data Link Communications) currently exist in the ATC community for command transcription, a fact that e.g. complicates exchange of transcriptions. The partners of the SESAR funded solution PJ.16-04 are currently developing on a common ontology for transcription of controller-pilot communications, which will harmonize integration of ASR into controller working positions. The resulting ontology is presented in this paper.

To our knowledge, this is the largest study evaluating relationships between 3T Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and P300 and memory/cognitive tests in the literature. The 3T MRI using NeuroQuant has an increased resolution 15 times that of 1.5T MRI. Utilizing NeuroQuant 3T MRI as a diagnostic tool in primary care, subjects (N=169; 19–90 years) displayed increased areas of anatomical atrophy: 34.62% hippocampal atrophy (N=54), 57.14% central atrophy (N=88), and 44.52% temporal atrophy (N=69). A majority of these patients exhibited overlap in measured areas of atrophy and were cognitively impaired. These results positively correlated with decreased P300 values and WMS-III (WMS-III) scores differentially across various brain loci. Delayed latency (p=0.0740) was marginally associated with temporal atrophy; reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) in frontal lobes correlated with aging, delayed P300 latency, and decreased visual and working memory (p=0.0115). Aging and delayed P300 latency correlated with lower FA. The correlation between working memory and reduced FA in frontal lobes is marginally significant (p=0.0787). In the centrum semiovale (CS), reduced FA correlated with visual memory (p=0.0622). Lower demyelination correlated with higher P300 amplitude (p=0.0002). Compared to males, females have higher demyelination (p=0.0064). Along these lines, the higher the P300 amplitude, the lower the bilateral atrophy (p=0.0165). Hippocampal atrophy correlated with increased auditory memory and gender, especially in males (p=0.0087). In considering temporal lobe atrophy correlations: delayed P300 latency and high temporal atrophy (p=0.0740); high auditory memory and low temporal atrophy (p=0.0417); and high working memory and low temporal atrophy (p=0.0166). Central atrophy correlated with aging and immediate memory (p=0.0294): the higher the immediate memory, the lower the central atrophy. Generally, the validation of brain atrophy by P300 and WMS-III could lead to cost-effective methods utilizable in primary care medicine following further confirmation.

Summary: Antigens and rabbit‐antisera from holotypes of Pythium insidiosumand P. destruens were prepared to elucidate their antigenic relationship. The antigens and rabbit‐antisera of P. insidiosum as well as P. destruens used as a reference system showed that both shared three precipitin bands in common. The antigen and rabbit‐antisera of P. destruens and P. insidiosum used as a reference system against other strains isolated from humans and animals with pythiosis, also showed three precipitin bands in common. When we used sera taken from horses with proven pythiosis against antigens of P. insidiosum and P. destruens, six common bands were observed. We concluded that the etiologic agent of pythiosis is a single species P. insidiosum, and could be identified by serologic methods. Zusammenfassung: Zur Untersuchung der Antigenverwandtschaft zwischen Pythium insidiosum und P. destruens wurden die Antigene der Holotypen beider Arten sowie homologe Kaninchen‐Antiseren präpariert. Die Antigene beider Arten und ihre Antiseren zeigen drei gemeinsame Präzipi‐tationsbanden, und benutzt als Referenzsy‐stem gegen Stämme, die von Menschen und Tieren mit Pythiosis isoliert worden waren, konnten ebenfalls drei gemeinsame Präzi‐pitationsbanden nachgewiesen werden. An Seren von Pferden mit erwiesener Pythiosis wurden sechs gemeinsame Banden gegen Antigene von P. insidiosum und P. destruens beobachtet. Es wird daraus geschlossen, daß das ätiologische Agens der Pythiosis nur eine einzige Art, nämlich P. insidiosum ist, die durch serologische Methoden erfaßt wird.

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