SKA telescope manager: a status update

The international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project to build two radio interferometers is approaching the end of its design phase, and gearing up for the beginning of formal construction. A key part of this distributed Observatory is the overall software control system: the Telescope Manager (TM). The two telescopes, a Low frequency dipole array to be located in Western Australia (SKA-Low) and a Mid-frequency dish array to be located in South Africa (SKA-Mid) will be operated as a single Observatory, with its global headquarters (GHQ) based in the United Kingdom at Jodrell Bank. When complete it will be the most powerful radio observatory in the world. The TM software must combine the observatory operations based at the GHQ with the monitor and control operations of each telescope, covering the range of domains from proposal submission to the coordination and monitoring of the subsystems that make up each telescope. It must also monitor itself and provide a reliable operating platform. This paper will provide an update on the design status of TM, covering the make-up of the consortium delivering the design, a brief description of the key challenges and the top level architecture, and its software development plans for tackling the construction phase of the project. It will also briefly describe the consortium’s response to the SKA Project’s decision in the second half of 2016 to adopt the processes set out by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) for system architecture design and documentation, including a re-evaluation of its deliverables, documentation and approach to internal reviews.publishe

Socioeconomic position and disability: “The Belo Horizonte, Brazil Health Study”

<p></p><p>Abstract This study aims to investigate the association of socioeconomic status and comorbidities of self-reported disability. Data were obtained from a population survey in Belo Horizonte from 2008 to 2009. The sample was probabilistic and stratified by conglomerates in three stages: census tracts, households and individuals. The outcome variable was disability, defined by the self-reported problems in bodily functions or structures. The explanatory variables were gender, age, self-reported morbidity and socioeconomic status index that included variables mother and respondent schooling and household income. The factorial analysis was used to evaluate the socioeconomic status index and logistic regression. The prevalence of disability was 10.43% (95% CI: 9.1-11.7%). Self-reported disability was associated with age (OR = 1.02; 95% CI: 1.01-1.03) and reporting of two or more diseases (OR = 3.24; CI 95%; 2.16-4.86) and socioeconomic status index (OR = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.95-0.97). The worse socioeconomic status and occurrence of diseases appear to contribute to the occurrence of disability. These results show health inequities among people with disabilities, and BPC relevance supporting vulnerable populations.</p><p></p