Objective: Insulin resistance (IR) and associated metabolic abnormalities are increasingly being reported in the adolescent population. Cut-off value of homeostasis model of assessment IR (HOMA-IR) as an indicator of metabolic syndrome (MS) in adolescents has not been established. This study aimed to investigate IR by HOMA-IR in urban Indian adolescents and to establish cut-off values of HOMA-IR for defining MS.Methods: A total of 691 apparently healthy adolescents (295 with normal body mass index (BMI), 205 overweight, and 199 obese) were included in this cross-sectional study. MS in adolescents was defined by International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) criteria. IR was calculated using the HOMA model.Results: Mean height, waist circumference (WC), waist/hip ratio (WHR), waist/height ratio (WHtR), and blood pressure were significantly higher in boys as compared to girls. The HOMA-IR values increased progressively from normal weight to obese adolescents in both sexes. Mean HOMA-IR values increased progressively according to sexual maturity rating in both sexes. HOMA-IR value of 2.5 had a sensitivity of >70% and specificity of >60% for MS. This cut-off identified larger number of adolescents with MS in different BMI categories (19.7% in normal weight, 51.7% in overweight, and 77.0% in obese subjects) as compared to the use of IDF or ATP III criteria for diagnosing MS. Odds ratio for having IR (HOMA-IR of >2.5) was highest with WHtR (4.9, p <0.0001) and WC (4.8, p <0.0001), compared to WHR (3.3, p <0.0001).Conclusions: In Indian adolescents, HOMA-IR increased with sexual maturity and with progression from normal to obese. A HOMA-IR cut-off of 2.5 provided the maximum sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing MS in both genders as per ATP III and IDF criteria.Conflict of interest:None declared.

Relativistic many-body methods at different levels of approximations are employed to gain insights into the passage of the electron correlations from the lower to higher orders in the accurate determination of the electric dipole polarizability (α d ) and the electric dipole moment (EDM) due to the electron-nucleus tensor-pseudotensor (T-PT) and the nuclear Schiff moment (NSM) interactions in 199 Hg. Moreover, plausible reasons for the differences in the previous atomic calculations are pointed out. Comparison between the calculated and experimental results of α d indicates that our EDM calculations are about 3% accurate, which in combination with the measured value of 199 Hg EDM yield limits on the T-PT coupling constant as CT < 2.31 × 10 −9 and on the NSM as S < 1.55 × 10 −12 |e|f m 3 . Using these values together with the latest nuclear structure and quantum chromodynamics calculations, we get limits for the strong CP-violating parameter as |θ| < 1.1×10 −9 and for the combined up and down quark chromo-EDMs as |du −d d | < 2.9 × 10 −26 |e|cm, which are elevated from their previously known limits.

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Phosphorene suffers from instability under ambient condition, despite its potential to bridge the gap between graphene and two-dimensional (2D) metal chalcogenides. We report effective exfoliation and stabilization of few layer phosphorene (FLP) in the presence of strongly interacting surfactants. Surfactants containing long hydrophobic chain and nonbulky charged headgroups (CTAB) effectively exfoliate and stabilize FLP in water, which is consistent with our density functional theory prediction. Nuclear magnetic resonance measurements are systematically employed to probe the interaction between surfactants and FLP. Retarded diffusion rate measured by 2D DOSY spectroscopy revealed the presence of noncovalently bonded CTAB over phosphorene. 2D NOESY spectroscopy further suggests the interdigitated arrangement of surfactants. Such a tight interaction impedes the ambient degradation rate of phosphorene by 70−80%. This work proposes a new insight into the control over ambient degradation of phosphorene without altering its intrinsic properties.

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