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Tidal disruption events (TDEs) offer a unique way to study dormant black holes. While the number of observed TDEs has grown thanks to the emergence of wide-field surveys in the past few decades, questions regarding the nature of the observed optical, UV, and X-ray emission remain. We present a uniformly selected sample of 30 spectroscopically classified TDEs from the Zwicky Transient Facility Phase I survey operations with follow-up \textit{Swift} UV and X-ray observations. Through our investigation into correlations between light curve properties, we recover a shallow positive correlation between the peak bolometric luminosity and decay timescales. We introduce a new spectroscopic class of TDE, TDE-featureless, which are characterized by featureless optical spectra. The new TDE-featureless class shows larger peak bolometric luminosities, peak blackbody temperatures, and peak blackbody radii. We examine the differences between the X-ray bright and X-ray faint populations of TDEs in this sample, finding that X-ray bright TDEs show higher peak blackbody luminosities than the X-ray faint sub-sample. This sample of optically selected TDEs is the largest sample of TDEs from a single survey yet, and the systematic discovery, classification, and follow-up of this sample allows for robust characterization of TDE properties, an important stepping stone looking forward toward the Rubin era., Comment: 44 pages, 22 figures, 9 tables, accepted to ApJ

New experiments that target the B-mode polarization signals in the Cosmic Microwave Background require more sensitivity, more detectors, and thus larger-aperture millimeter-wavelength telescopes, than previous experiments. These larger apertures require ever larger vacuum windows to house cryogenic optics. Scaling up conventional vacuum windows, such as those made of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), require a corresponding increase in the thickness of the window material to handle the extra force from the atmospheric pressure. Thicker windows cause more transmission loss at ambient temperatures, increasing optical loading and decreasing sensitivity. We have developed the use of woven High Modulus Polyethylene (HMPE), a material 100 times stronger than HDPE, to manufacture stronger, thinner windows using a pressurized hot lamination process. We discuss the development of a specialty autoclave for generating thin laminate vacuum windows and the optical and mechanical characterization of full scale science grade windows, with the goal of developing a new window suitable for BICEP Array cryostats and for future CMB applications.

Women's health is an often-overlooked aspect of medicine. The National Institutes of Health has emphasized the importance of investigating 'sex as a biological variable' in all new research grants. This has placed emphasis once again on the need for more nuanced studies that explore the role of sex as a biological variable on study outcomes. This session sought to elicit participation from researchers with strong backgrounds in women's health and informatics to develop methods that harness big datasets and 'big data techniques' including machine learning and artificial intelligence and apply those tools to women's health questions. Some important questions discussed in this section include Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and the importance of early identification along with C-section deliveries and the importance of emergency vs. elective procedures.

Smart Mobility is an important component of Smart Cities with most of the current approaches focusing on crash incidents for safety within Smart Mobility. The Safe Community System (SCS) aims to collect and provide information to city residents about events beyond crash incidents using mobile technology. The work reported in this manuscript aims to manage and provide information to residents in a meaningful way to support their decision making. This paper describes our efforts in extending an initial proof-of-concept of the SCS by establishing a Safety Index (SI)-a derived metric that aggregates the value of resident-submitted reports to generate real-time safety levels for streets within a city considering the lifespan and verification of these reports. The SCS mobile application has been refined to provide further information about a specific incident. The SCS updated design also proposes a Safe Path Algorithm (SPA) which is a modified Dijkstra’s algorithm that uses the SI to compute a safe path for the resident. The goal of the SCS is to support resident’s decision-making when choosing a route and thus fostering safety for Smart Mobility. Efforts like the SCS contribute to converting cities to Smart Cities.

Information and technology are key elements in converting cities to Smart Cities. The ability to provide real-time information to residents for supporting their decision making is a primary characteristic of Smart Cities. Some of the challenges of providing real-time data are the availability of such data and the platforms to share it with residents in a meaningful way. In this work, an interdisciplinary, international team of researchers and students from the University of Guadalajara and the University of Texas at El Paso share their progress towards managing (i.e., collecting, processing, and sharing) real-time data during flooding events through the Smart Flooding Alert System (Smart FAS). Flooding events impact the day-to-day activities of city residents such as their mobility and affect the city’s infrastructure. The Smart FAS proposes the use of mobile devices and a wireless sensor network infrastructure for the collection of crowdsourced and sensor-generated data, respectively. The Smart FAS includes algorithms to calculate a metric that can be implemented for generating flood mobility routes that avoid flooded streets. Smart FAS uses metrics and mobile technologies for providing real-time information in a meaningful way to users. The proposed design and features of the Smart FAS proof-of-concept are evaluated using Smart Cities characteristics. The Smart FAS proof-of-concept can inform the development of further information and communication technologies (ICT) and Smart Cities platforms aiming to collect and share real-time data to city residents and stakeholders to support their decision-making process.

El tema de esta investigación es el desarrollo de la Institución Educativa 5051 “Virgen de Fátima” en la Provincia Constitucional del Callao, en el distrito de Ventanilla, y su rol potencial como potenciador social y cultural de la zona, teniendo como punto de partida la necesidad de sustituir la infraestructura existente, modificándola en su totalidad, debido a que actualmente el edificio no cumple con las normas de seguridad y presenta un gran nivel de deterioro que lo hace inhabitable. A partir de esta oportunidad de mejora, el nuevo centro educativo, además de cumplir con los nuevos lineamientos de diseño aprobados por el Ministerio de Educación (MINEDU), deberá proveer equipamiento educativo complementario con miras al aprovechamiento de la comunidad cercana al colegio, una zona muy vulnerable en cuando a delincuencia, violencia y pobreza se refiere.

Advancing water sustainability research capabilities through the integration, execution and interpretation of water models and participatory reasoning processes.

Older adults are a population underserved by technology that faces unique challenges when commuting in urban areas due to a decrease in their physical and cognitive skills associated with aging (e.g., a decline in their sight, slower reflexes, loss of hearing, fear of getting lost or disoriented, fear of falling). Smart Cities aim to provide a high quality of life to residents regardless of the special needs they may have. This paper describes our recent efforts in increasing our understanding of seniors’ mobility needs and how to address them through technology, and in particular the development of the Urban Connector. Urban Connector is a product of our interdisciplinary research efforts aiming to address mobility challenges of seniors in El Paso, a city in the U.S. Southwest and validated in New York, a city in the U.S. Northeast. The Urban Connector is a mobile application which design follows recommendations for the development of technology catered to seniors. To evaluate the effectiveness of the Urban connector to address mobility needs of seniors through technology, an evaluation with 38 beta-testers was performed. The results of this evaluation are presented in this paper along with our future efforts based on these results. The Urban Connector contributes to efforts to foster the use of technology aiming to bridge the generational digital divide and support the creation of more inclusive, sustainable, smart cities.

This paper describes the Safe Commuting System (SCS) which aims to improve the safety of commuters in urban areas using both historical and real-time crowdsourced data (through mobile devices) about safety incidents. The SCS informs commuters about at-risk areas and will provide alternative commuting routes. The current SCS implementation includes a mobile device application that enables the collection of crowdsourced data and user notifications about safety incidents in the proximity. The crowdsourced information serves two main functions: alerting users about safety incidents and assisting residents in decision-making about safe mobility. The current SCS prototype enables the collection of data including emergency alerts through a panic button and safety incidents through user reports. User reports are organized into three different categories: (1) criminal activity, (2) perceived danger, and (3) suspicious activities. Future work includes the generation of safe routes for commuters. The SCS system can be considered a Smart Cities solution in the Smart Mobility area, given that the proposed use of technology and data fosters the safety of commuters, and thus contributes to an improved quality of life. Efforts towards informing and collecting relevant information for mobility are important to address the demands of urban areas and convert them into Smart Cities.

Flooding hinders the ability of residents to move through-out urban areas. Current weather information systems provide weather forecasts with a granularity too coarse to inform city residents of floods at a street level. Reliable real-time data is also limited in some cities and only a few systems enable users to report flooding events. This research project aims to inform residents about flooding events through the Flooding Alert System (FAS), which seamlessly integrates real-time data, crowdsourced data, historical data and provides timely and precise information to users so that they can make informed decisions during these events. The proposed Smart Cities solution, uses Internet of Things sensors equipped with an image processing algorithm for approximating the water level at at-risk areas. In adittion, a mobile application allows users to report and receive alerts of nearby flooding events as they occur. The expected products will be piloted in Guadalajara, JAL, MX. Transferability of our solution is planned to be evaluated through the application of these products in El Paso, TX, USA.

Many older adults or seniors face mobility issues as they age, for example, switching from driving to using carpool, taxi, or staying on fixed routes. Seniors require responsive transportation services to attend activities. Unfortunately, there are limited tools to assist seniors to find the most appropriate transportation options given their mobility needs (e.g., inability to walk long distances, use of a cane). Mobile devices (e.g. smartphones, tablets, etc.) have demonstrated to be a useful tool to provide real-time information that has the potential to assist seniors with mobility challenges. This paper focuses on investigating senior citizens’ mobility needs in El Paso, Texas and New York City, New York in order to define the requirements and recommendations for an ad-hoc solution on smart mobility for seniors, using state-of-the-art mobile technologies. In order to identify the main concerns and requirements to assist in mobility of seniors, a survey was conducted at various senior recreation centers across El Paso and New York City with a total of 458 and 61 responses, respectively. Survey results indicate that: (i) the most required assistance for seniors is the avoidance of traffic congestion; (ii) the majority of seniors who own mobile devices are not using the available applications or functions to meet their mobility needs; and (iii) seniors indicated that they prefer mobile applications that are easy and intuitive to use. These findings provide additional insights to those from previous surveys. We provide recommendations for researchers and developers interested in creating solutions for mobility of seniors based on these findings and the interactions with seniors when the survey was performed.