18 April 2016

What is an Academic database? What is review of literature?


review of literature is a process of evaluating the information found in the literature(past studies) related to your selected area of study. All works included in the review must be read, evaluated and analysed, but relationships between the literature must also be identified and articulated, in relation to your field of research. As a process of review of literature, a literature review report is written with the purpose to convey the reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. The literature review should provide a context for the research, justify the research, ensure the research hasn't been done before, show where the research fits into the existing body of knowledge, enable the researcher to learn from previous theory on the subject, illustrate how the subject has been studied previously, highlight flaws in previous research, outline gaps in previous research, show that the work is adding to the understanding and knowledge of the field and help refine, refocus or even change the topic. To do this process we need to go through the published articles. Finding and searching the past studies in each journal is almost a impossible task and this where academic databases play a vital role.

An Academic databases (sometimes referred to as abstracting and indexing databases) will find articles from thousands of journals. Search by your keyword to generate a list of results. Using them will save you time and effort compared to searching individual journals and will give you a comprehensive set of journal articles. I recommend you to use these academic databases rather than Search engines (Google)  or Encyclopedia (Wikipedia) because the information included in the databases is of high academic quality.

List of frequently used Multidisciplinary Academic database:

Apart from the above mentioned multidisciplinary databases there are several specific database for specific disciplines and its branches.

If you need any help or clarifications feel free to drop your queries at comments. 

15 April 2016

Shocking Top 14 foods that might be causing cancer

Image by PDPics via Pixbay
Last year over 1.5 million people were diagnosed with cancer. But few people stop to think about if the foods they are eating contain deadly carcinogens or are harming them in a way that might cause cancer. We all eat. Is what you are eating killing you?
1. Highly Processed White Flours
After refining, processed white flours not only lose most all of their nutrients but they are also bleached with a chemical called chlorine gas. The EPA sites this gas as dangerous, irritant, that can be lethal. It is also very highly glycemic and bad for your blood sugar. Not only are they making us fat they might also be contributing to rising cancer rates.
2. Microwave Popcorn
Everybody loves a yummy bag of popcorn. Making it in the microwave is easy and convenient. Unfortunately, according to wikipedia the bags of microwave popcorn are lined with perfluorooctanoic acid ( PFOA). This chemical is also found in Teflon. Studies have shown that this chemical can be linked with infertility in women and exposure significantly increases risk of kidney, bladder, liver, pancreas and testicular cancers. Find more out at cancer.org.
Many microwave popcorns also still use diacetyl which Conagra stopped using due to employees using it getting lung cancer.
3. Artifical Sweeteners
If you have to avoid sugar, are on a diet or have diabetes you might be using artificial sweeteners. However, many studies show that people usually GAIN weight when using them and can make it harder to control blood sugar. More studies are coming out that show aspertame, when broken down becomes a dealdy toxin called DKP. This breakdown of chemicals is known to cause certain brain tumors.
4. Alcohol
Many of us enjoy a nice drink now and then but over consumption of alcohol can lead to many health issues including diabetes, obesity and many types of cancers.   A recent study showed that postmenopausal women who drank one drink per day or less had a 30% increase in breast cancer rates than women who did not drink at all. Alchohol is the 2nd leading cause of cancer following tobacco. Experts working with the World Health Organization Research on Cancer found evidence that alcohol is the main cause of mouth, esophagus, liver, colon, mouth, rectum, and female breast cancers.
5. Refined Sugars and Soda Pop
 Many believe that refined sugars are the preferable food for cancer cells which helps them grow. High Fructose Corn Syrup being one of the main culprits because it is most easily metabolized by cancer cells. This puts most cakes, sodas, sauces, juices, etc on the NO NO list.. Sorry sweet tooths! 
6. Processed Meats
Like some hot dogs, sausages, bacon and lunch meats? Most of them have excessive salts and chemicals. Some studies show that people who regularly eat processed meats increased their chance of early death by as much as 43%. Sodium Nitrates are the biggest offenders and also a well know carcinogen with smoked meats being particularly bad.
7. Smoked, Pickled and Salted!
Put a fork in me after I eat these foods. These foods often have nitrates that turn into N-nitroso that is associated with higher cancer risks when digested.   Smoked meats that are high in fat can help lead to stomach and colorectal cancer.  
8. Potato Chips
They sure make a great tasting quick snack but the negative effects far outweigh the short term pleasure. High in both fat and calories the cause weight gain. Add in often high Trans-Fats with sodium and you have the recipe for cancer and heart disease related health problems.  
9. Farmed Salmon
Over 60% of salmon eaten in the United States is farm raised. Being fed unatural diets with chemicals, antibiotics, pesticides and other known carcinogens these otherwise healthy fish and not very healthy at all. Studies have also shown high numbers of PCB’s and mercury in them.  
10. Diet Foods
 Often loaded with Aspertame, a chemical in artificial sweeteners, diet foods are not very healthy at all. Excessive sodium, colors and refined ingredients are often added to make up for flavor loss. Many low fat foods actually have many MORE calories than their ‘Non diet’ associates.  
11. GMO’s
 While the jury is still out on what GMO’s are. Where they are in our food and what effect they have on the environment and our bodies one thing is for sure. The U.S. has NO testing procedures for GMO’s whatsoever. We are essentially guinea pigs in a huge trial.  
12.  Hydrogenated Oils
These are vegetable oils. They must be chemically removed from their source and are often deodorized and colored. Also, excessive Omega-6 fatty acids cause health problems.  
13. Red Meat
Small amounts of red meat in a diet can be shown to be a good thing. Try to eat grass fed which has properties of linoleic acid which helps fight against some cancers. However, when speaking about colon cancer, red meats eaten everyday can lead to increased cancer risks. 
14. Canned Tomatoes
Many canned foods and obviously found in cans. Most cans are lined with a chemical called bisphenol-A or BPA. Study about 2 years ago showed that BPA’s affect the way genes worked inside rats’ brains. The FDA seems to agree this is a problem and is supporting efforts to reduce, replace or eliminate the amounts found in canned foods.   The high acidity leaves tomatoes more dangerous because they can leech the BPA more readily from the can lining.
source:bulletindailynews.com

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10 April 2016

Know your Polling Station and more - Indian Assembly election 2016 (Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry)

The Election Commission announced the schedule for Assembly polls in 4 States and 1 Union territory(Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry). The elections will be held between April 4 and May 16. The counting of votes on all seats in five states will take place on May 19.
State
Date of Poll (Phase -1)
Phase-2
Phase-3
Phase-4
Phase-5
Phase-6
West Bengal
4. Apr. 2016 (MON) and 11. Apr. 2016 (MON)
17. Apr. 2016 (SUN)
21. Apr. 2016 (THU)
25. Apr. 2016 (MON)
30. Apr. 2016 (SAT)
5. May. 2016 (THU)
Assam
4. Apr. 2016 (MON)
11. Apr. 2016 (MON)
-
-
-
-
Kerala
16. May. 2016 (MON)
-
-
-
-
-
Tamil Nadu
16. May. 2016 (MON)
-
-
-
-
-
Pondicherry
16. May. 2016 (MON)
-
-
-
-
-
Counting of Votes
19. May. 2016
19. May. 2016
19. May. 2016
19. May. 2016
19. May. 2016
19. May. 2016
source: http://www.elections.in/upcoming-elections-in-india.html

To know your polling station and/or to Apply for shifting to a different Assembly Constituency, Apply for shifting to a different Assembly Constituency (Only for overseas elector), Raise an objection for inclusion of this entry or Apply for deletion from electoral roll, Apply for corrections in electoral roll entry, Apply for shifting within Assembly Constituency use the following steps:

  1. Go to http://electoralsearch.in/ There you can see two tabs Search by details and Search EPIC no.
  2. I prefer using Search by EPIC no. In that tab enter your EPIC number found in Voter's id which is a 10 digit number. select your state and enter the captcha. 
  3. click search

Now you will see the below results after search. Click on view details.
click on image to enlarge

You may now see more details you required. As shown in the picture below.
click on image to enlarge

Remember it's your Right to vote don't make it as an assignment by selling it for any amount.
Wish you all the best.

08 April 2016

Dependent, Independent variables and their different names

In research, variables of different nature are used. Two major variables used in such case is Independent and Dependent variables.

Independent variables:

A variable (often denoted by x ) whose variation does not depend on that of another is called as Independent variables. Other names for Independent variables are exogenous variable, predictor variable, regressor, controlled variable, manipulated variable, explanatory variable, exposure variable (in reliability theory), risk factor (in medical statistics), feature (in machine learning and pattern recognition) or an "input variable."

Dependent variables:

A variable (often denoted by y ) whose value depends on that of another is known as Dependent variables. Other names for Dependent variables are Endogenous variable (similar not exactly the same as dependent variables), response variable, regressand, predicted variable, measured variable, explained variable, experimental variable, responding variable, outcome variable and output variable.

05 April 2016

HTTPS for blogspot- Coming in late April from Google


This morning received the above announcement from Google which states that all blog will be using HTTPS links soon. which could be seen late April but I got two doubt after the announcement.

1. 

Thats my first doubt, Will HTTPS links works with custom domain?. as I am using custom domain I will waiting for this answer.

2. I have read recently that google is migrating its blog from blogspot.com to googleblog.com so which will happen first HTTPS://name.blogspot.com or HTTPS://name.googleblog.com?

Waiting for these two questions

How your money grows owning a Share? Money from Plant to Tree


Investing in shares is an alternative way to increase your wealth apart from other investments made in Gold, Real estate and etc.. Risks are evenly high in Stock market because of crashes (as we saw in the global financial crisis of 2008–2009), but if you’re patient, have assessed your risk carefully and have a diversified portfolio that performs well, your money plant will grow in to a tree. So what do you get owning a stock? Proud ownership of a company and you have an ownership stake in the corporation that issued it, or offered it for sale. The size of that stake depends on the number of shares you own compared to the total number available. Now lets see what are the ways though which your money grows.

DIVIDENDS

The company that issued the stock may pay a dividend which is a part of company’s profits. The company’s management may declare dividends either in between a financial year called interim dividends or at the end of the financial year called final dividends. However, it is not mandatory for the companies to pay dividends. It can use the profits for alternative uses like expansion. The decision to pay or not to pay dividends is taken at the annual meeting.

CAPITAL APPRECIATION

This is the main reason why people invest in shares. A stock's price may go up while you own it. If it does, you can sell some or all of your shares for a profit if you want to which is known as Capital gain, or you can hold onto it, which increases the value of your portfolio. Investing in stock has risks, though. You may have a negative return rather than a positive one. So you should properly access the risk of stock that you own. Remember, Shares need time to increase in value. With enough time and diversification (buying a range of shares spread across the economy), you’re unlikely to lose on the share market. If you’re impatient, and you’re not well diversified, you could lose money in shares.

BONUS SHARES

A bonus issue is an offer of free additional shares to existing shareholders. These new ew shares are issued to shareholders in proportion to their holdings. For ex: the company may give one bonus share for every 10 shares held.

SHARES CAN BE PLEDGED

Shares are considered as assets and hence, banks accept shares as security for loans. Apart from that, Brokerage firms allow you to borrow money from their account based on the current shareholding you have in your demat account. If you see an opportunity in markets, but don’t have the cash right now, you can adopt this route.
That’s how your money grows and one important factor that investments in stocks are preferred over investments in real assets or solid asset is because of HIGH LIQUIDITY Shares are highly liquid. You can receive your cash in two days. It can be converted into cash in no time. With online trading, all it takes is the click of button to sell you holdings.  

One philosophy you should remember before making any investment is “High returns always carry high risk”. Its simple equation High risk = High return

03 April 2016

Why you should use Adjusted closing prices for Analysis




Beginners in analysis often do a basic mistake by considering the closing prices of stocks for analysis instead of Adjusted closing price. In this post I will explain, why you should use Adjusted closing price for any data analysis?
When you download data from internet you will often have a column Adjusted closing price in the file. You can read my post which explains how to download stock prices Method-1 and Method-2.
                                              
Closing price: It is the final price at which a security is traded on a selected trading day.

Adjusted closing price: It is a stock's closing price on any selected day of trading that has been amended to include any distributions (dividend) and corporate actions (Split/bonus shares) that occurred at any time prior to the next day's open.


From the above definition you can understand it could be a bias to use closing price for analysis which doesn’t discount the corporate actions or distributions. So it is always recommended to use Adj. Closing price during analysis.