My Perspective

Here are some limitations of using Randomized Control Trials (RCT) for Mental Health (MH) research. In the selection of people to RCTs, one needs to include subjects of a single condition or diagnostic category. However, in psychiatry the diagnosis can be unstable, changing, apart from secondary conditions, undiagnosed comorbid conditions. This also implies that the external validity of the RCT results are limited for MH.

I donated to plant 32 trees for my birthday. This is through "Plant for the Planet" foundation supported by United Nations in their Trillion tree campaign. http://www.plant-for-the-planet.org/#!/2159/113 If everyone joins in to donate to this cause then this target is achievable. Please consider to donate.

I love watching 'Finding Nemo'.! It has the right mix of comedy, thriller and emotions. It is a riot every time Dora forgets nemo's name. Or even to see the carefree attitude of the 150 year old tortoise parenting his kid.. However, it does leave you in tears towards the end - the time when Marlin leaves Dora or when you just thought Nemo died rescuing 'Aunt Dora'. I like the message it conveys about relationships, in a very subtle yet

In March of 1996, my father gifted me something special for my birthday. He bought me Dorling Kindersley's Science Encyclopaedia. And what followed is a series of transformations. My father was worried that my brother and I would seldom read it.

I love to watch Ron Howard's "A Beautiful Mind" time and again. Every time, it inspires me to strive harder for my 'original idea'. To see a man of such caliber struggle to make himself count, makes me wonder "We have everything right in our lives, yet what have we accomplished with it?".

Prof Andrew Ng, former faculty at Stanford University, provided good insight on what the graduate student admission committee looks for in a personal statement (also known as statement of purpose) from a applicant on his website [1]. The overall points raised are also applicable to any SOP not just for university admissions. I made a summary of the points raised for my personal use (and hence the first part is written in first person). I felt that I should share it on my blog for others who might find it useful. Here are my notes on the how to write a SOP and more importantly what not to write in an SOP for a graduate application. Previous relevant experience Discuss small number of relevant projects Role in the project Specific work Insights I had, experiments and outcomes Result - publication, award, impact Briefly mention a

Psychotic-like-experiences (PLE) are prodromal symptoms of psychosis. Their analysis not only has the advantage of early detection but also circumvents the disadvantage of confounding due to medication. These motivate the authors [1-2] to study