A Search for Distant Galactic Cepheids Toward l=60

We present results of a survey of a 6-square-degree region near l=60, b=0 to search for distant Milky Way Cepheids. Few MW Cepheids are known at distances >~ R_0, limiting large-scale MW disk models derived from Cepheid kinematics; this work was designed to find a sample of distant Cepheids for use in such models. The survey was conducted in the V and I bands over 8 epochs, to a limiting I~=18, with a total of ~ 5 million photometric observations of ~ 1 million stars. We present a catalog of 578 high-amplitude variables discovered in this field. Cepheid candidates were selected from this catalog on the basis of variability and color change, and observed again the following season. We confirm 10 of these candidates as Cepheids with periods from 4 to 8 days, most at distances > 3 kpc. Many of the Cepheids are heavily reddened by intervening dust, some with implied extinction A_V > 10 mag. With a future addition of infrared photometry and radial velocities, these stars alone can provide a constraint on R_0 to 8%, and in conjunction with other known Cepheids should provide good estimates of the global disk potential ellipticity.Comment: 18 pages, 4 tables, 13 figures (LaTeX / AASTeX

An Alternative Scoring Approach for Best-Worst Scaling (BWS)

The paper proposes an alternative scoring approach for the Best-Worst scaling (BWS) Object Case to capture both preference heterogeneity and experimental design differences to improve the prediction accuracy at the individual level. The unduplicated and highly unique scores across individuals also provide helpful input for further analysis, such as hybrid models to help understand people’s preferences in other tasks. Whilst the existing BWS scoring methods, including the most commonly used best-minus-worst and the best-over-worst ratio scores, have been applied primarily to elicit preference and ranking at both aggregate and individual levels, there are limitations such as equally scored items when we predict choices and order. We propose an alternative approach to target several limitations of existing methods. The proposed scoring approach can make several contributions: 1) it breaks equality in scores; 2) it introduces instruments to minimise design-induced effects such as different item co-occurrences in different balanced incomplete block designs (BIBD); and 3) it introduces a risk-averse instrument to lower the impact of incorrect predictions. We used seven empirical BWS Case I data sets with respondents completing full BIBD designs varied to test the new scoring against the current scoring. Results show a universal improvement in prediction accuracy. Compared to the present method, generating a limited set of discrete scores, the new approach generates almost unduplicated scores for object items across individuals with continuous distributions

Modeling the effects of including/excluding attributes in choice experiments on systematic and random components

Train on an earlier draft of this paper. 2 Modeling the Effects of Including/Excluding Attributes in Choice Experiments on Systematic and Random Components Abstract This paper examines the impact of attribute presence/absence in choice experiments using covariance heterogeneity models and random coefficient models. Results show that attribute presence/absence impacts both mean utility (systematic components) and choice variability (random components). Biased mean effects can occur by not accounting for choice variability. Further, even if one accounts for choice variability, attribute effects can differ because of attribute presence/absence. Managers who use choice experiments to study product changes or new variants should be cautious about excluding potentially essential attributes. Although including more relevant attributes increases choice variability, it also reduces bias

Microwave and Millimeter Wave Techniques

Contains research objectives and summary of research.Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAB07-71-C-0300

Pseudospectral Calculation of the Wavefunction of Helium and the Negative Hydrogen Ion

We study the numerical solution of the non-relativistic Schr\"{o}dinger equation for two-electron atoms in ground and excited S-states using pseudospectral (PS) methods of calculation. The calculation achieves convergence rates for the energy, Cauchy error in the wavefunction, and variance in local energy that are exponentially fast for all practical purposes. The method requires three separate subdomains to handle the wavefunction's cusp-like behavior near the two-particle coalescences. The use of three subdomains is essential to maintaining exponential convergence. A comparison of several different treatments of the cusps and the semi-infinite domain suggest that the simplest prescription is sufficient. For many purposes it proves unnecessary to handle the logarithmic behavior near the three-particle coalescence in a special way. The PS method has many virtues: no explicit assumptions need be made about the asymptotic behavior of the wavefunction near cusps or at large distances, the local energy is exactly equal to the calculated global energy at all collocation points, local errors go down everywhere with increasing resolution, the effective basis using Chebyshev polynomials is complete and simple, and the method is easily extensible to other bound states. This study serves as a proof-of-principle of the method for more general two- and possibly three-electron applications.Comment: 23 pages, 20 figures, 2 tables, Final refereed version - Some references added, some stylistic changes, added paragraph to matrix methods section, added last sentence to abstract

An unidentified Fermi source emitting radio bursts in the Galactic bulge

We report on the detection of radio bursts from the Galactic bulge using the real-time transient detection and localization system, realfast. The pulses were detected commensally on the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array during a survey of unidentified Fermi $\gamma$-ray sources. The bursts were localized to subarcsecond precision using realfast fast-sampled imaging. Follow-up observations with the Green Bank Telescope detected additional bursts from the same source. The bursts do not exhibit periodicity in a search up to periods of 480s, assuming a duty cycle of < 20%. The pulses are nearly 100% linearly polarized, show circular polarization up to 12%, have a steep radio spectral index of -2.7, and exhibit variable scattering on timescales of months. The arcsecond-level realfast localization links the source confidently with the Fermi $\gamma$-ray source and places it nearby (though not coincident with) an XMM-Newton X-ray source. Based on the source's overall properties, we discuss various options for the nature of this object and propose that it could be a young pulsar, magnetar, or a binary pulsar system.Comment: Submitted to The Astrophysical Journa

Prospective blinded evaluation of a novel sensing methodology designed to reduce inappropriate shocks by the subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator

Background: Most inappropriate shocks from the subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (S-ICD) are caused by cardiac oversensing. A novel sensing methodology, SMART Pass (SP; Boston Scientific Corporation, Natick, MA), aims to reduce cardiac oversensing. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of SP on shocks in ambulatory patients with S-ICD. Methods: Patients implanted in 2015–2016 and enrolled in a remote patient monitoring system were included and followed for 1 year. Shocks were adjudicated by 3 independent blinded reviewers as appropriate or inappropriate. Shock incidence was calculated for patients with SP programmed enabled or disabled at implantation, censoring patients when SP programming changed or at the last transmission. The SP setting (enabled vs disabled) was modeled as a time-dependent Cox regression variable. Results: The cohort consisted of 1984 patients, and a total of 880 shocks were adjudicated. At implantation, SP was enabled in 655 patients (33%) and disabled in 1329 patients (67%). SP reduced the risk for the first inappropriate shock by 50% (P <.001) and the risk for all inappropriate shocks by 68% (P <.001) in multivariate analysis adjusted for age and device programming. The incidence of inappropriate shocks was 4.3% in the SP enabled arm vs 9.7% in the SP disabled arm. The incidence of appropriate shocks was similar (5.2