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In this paper we identify some sub-optimal performance in algorithms that search for Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), which can reduce the cosmological volume probed by over 20%, and result in missed discoveries and incorrect flux density and sky rate determinations. Re-calculating parameters for all of the FRBs discovered with the Parkes telescope (i.e. all of the reported FRBs bar one), we find some inconsistencies with previously determined values, e.g. FRB 010125 was approximately twice as bright as previously reported. We describe some incompleteness factors not previously considered which are important in determining accurate population statistics, e.g. accounting for fluence incompleteness the Thornton et al. all-sky rate can be re-phrased as ~2500 FRBs per sky per day above a 1.4-GHz fluence of ~2 Jy ms. Finally we make data for the FRBs easily available, along with software to analyse these., Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 5 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables. FRB data to appear on Research Data Australia upon publication in MNRAS

We analyse dispersion measure (DM) variations in six years of radio observations of more than 160 young pulsars, all gamma ray candidates for the Fermi gamma ray telescope mostly located close to the Galactic plane. DMs were fit across 256 MHz of bandwidth for observations centred at 1.4 GHz and across three frequencies -- 0.7 GHz, 1.4 GHz, and 3.1 GHz -- where multifrequency observations were available. Changes in dispersion measure, dDM/dt, were calculated using a weighted linear fit across all epochs of available DMs. DM variations were detected at a 3\sigma level in 11 pulsars, four of which were above 5\sigma: PSRs J0835-4510, J0908-4913, J1824-1945, and J1833-0827. We find that after 28 years of gradual decline, the DM of PSR J0835-4510 is now increasing. The magnitude of variations in three of the four (PSRs J0835-4510, J0908-4913, and J1833-0827) are above what models would predict for an ISM dominated by Kolmogorov turbulence. We attribute this excess as likely due to the pulsar's local environment - the supernova remnants near PSRs J0835-4510 and J1833-0827 and the pulsar wind nebula around PSR J0908-4913. Upper limits were determined for all pulsars without detectable values of dDM/dt, most limits were found to lie above the levels of variations predicted by ISM theory. We find our results to be consistent with scattering estimates from the NE2001 model along these lines of sight., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We report on the polarization properties of two fast radio bursts (FRBs): 151230 and 160102 discovered in the SUrvey for Pulsars and Extragalactic Radio Bursts (SUPERB) at the Parkes radio telescope. FRB 151230 is observed to be 6 $\pm$ 11% circularly polarized and 35 $\pm$ 13 % linearly polarized with a rotation measure (RM) consistent with zero. Conversely, FRB 160102 is observed to have a circular polarization fraction of 30 $\pm$ 11 %, linear polarization fraction of 84 $\pm$ 15 % for RM = -221(6) rad m$^{-2}$ and the highest measured DM (2596.1 $\pm$ 0.3 pc cm$^{-3}$) for an FRB to date. We examine possible progenitor models for FRB 160102 in extragalactic, non-cosmological and cosmological scenarios. After accounting for the Galactic foreground contribution, we estimate the intrinsic RM to be -256(9) rad m$^{-2}$ in the low-redshift case and $\sim 2.4 \times 10^{2}$ rad m$^{-2}$ in the high-redshift case. We assess the relative likeliness of these scenarios and how each can be tested. We also place constraints on the scattering measure and study the impact of scattering on the signal's polarization position angle., 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS