Scientists have analysed patterns in back pain over time, identifying factors that can help better personalise the medication and therapies to treat different patients.
Back pain is among the most frequently reported health problems in the world.
The study, published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research, identifies patient characteristics and the extent of healthcare and medication use (including opioids) associated with different back pain patterns.
The study included a representative sample of the Canadian population that was followed from 1994 to 2011.
A total of 12,782 participants were interviewed every two years and provided data on factors including comorbidities, pain, disability, opioid and other medication use, and healthcare visits.
During the 16 years of follow-up, almost half (45.6 per cent) of participants reported back pain at least once.
There were four trajectories of pain among these participants: persistent (18 per cent), developing (28.1 per cent), recovery ...

Back pain patterns may pave way for personalised treatments

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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday met Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Rasit Meredow on the sidelines of the India-Central Asia Dialogue here and discussed enhancing bilateral cooperation across sectors.
Swaraj arrived in the ancient city of Samarkand on Saturday on a two-day visit to Uzbekistan to attend the first India-Central Asia Dialogue, which focussed on a plethora of regional issues including enhancing connectivity to war-ravaged Afghanistan.
"EAM @SushmaSwaraj met the Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Rasit Meredow on the sidelines of the India-Central Asia Dialogue in #Samarkand. Discussed enhancing bilateral cooperation across sectors," MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.
India enjoys close, friendly and historical ties with Turkmenistan and the two countries are part of the ambitious TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- PakistanIndia) pipeline project.
Turkmenistan, which sits on the world's fourth-largest gas reserves, started building its section of the ...

Swaraj meets Turkmenistan counterpart;discusses enhancing bilateral co-op

Police say three German skiers have been killed in an avalanche in the Austrian Alps and a fourth is missing.
The bodies of the men, aged 57, 36 and 32, were recovered Saturday evening near Lech, a few hours after the wife of one of the skiers reported them missing.
Police in Vorarlberg, Austria's westernmost province, said Sunday they had to call off the search for another German, age 28, because of heavy snow and the risk of avalanches.
The avalanche deaths bring to at least 24 the number of weather-related deaths reported in parts of Europe this month.
On Saturday, authorities in southern Germany and Austria used a break in the weather to clear heavy loads of snow from roofs and roads.

Austria: 3 German skiers killed in avalanche, 4th missing

Iran's foreign ministry summoned Poland's top diplomat in the country to protest its decision to host what it called an "anti-Iranian" summit, a spokesman said Sunday.
Poland's charge d'affaires was summoned to "protest the anti-Iranian so-called peace and security conference," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi on his Telegram channel.
He was told "this is a hostile act by the United States against Iran and Poland is expected to refrain from going along with the US in holding this conference," Ghasemi added.
The summit was announced last week by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said dozens of countries would participate.
They will "focus on Middle East stability and peace and freedom and security here in this region, and that includes an important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilising influence," he told Fox News.
Poland's representative in Iran, Wojciech Unolt, reportedly said the conference, to be held February 13-14 in Warsaw, was not ...

Iran summons Polish diplomat to protest US summit

Indian batsman and part time off-spinner Ambati Rayudu has been reported with a suspect bowling action during the first ODI against Australia in Sydney, the ICC said on Sunday.
Rayudu bowled only two overs in the game on Saturday, conceding 13 runs.
"The match officials' report, which was handed over to the India team management, cited concerns about the legality of the 33-year-old off-spinner's bowling action," said the ICC in a statement.
However, Rayudu can still bowl if the need arises.
"Rayudu's bowling action will now be scrutinised further under the ICC process relating to suspected illegal bowling actions reported in Tests, ODIs and T20Is.
"He is required to undergo testing within 14 days, and, during this period, Rayudu is permitted to continue bowling in international cricket until the results of the testing are known," the statement added.
Rayudu has only bowled 20.1 overs in his 46-ODI old career, taking three wickets at an average of 41.33 and economy rate of 6.14. He has 

Rayudu reported for suspect bowling action

A group organising anti-government protests across Sudan vowed to stage new demonstrations on Sunday, including for the first time in the war-torn region of Darfur.
Protests that erupted in the provinces on December 19 after the government tripled the price of bread have escalated into nationwide anti-government rallies, with demonstrators calling for President Omar al-Bashir to resign.
Authorities say at least 24 people have died in the protests, while rights group Human Rights Watch has put the death toll at 40, including children and medical staff.
On Sunday, protest organisers called for demonstrations in the capital Khartoum and other towns including Madani, Kosti and Dongola as part of what they have called a "Week of Uprising".
They also urged protests in Niyala and El-Fasher in Darfur, the first such rallies to be called in the region.
"The people of Niyala and El-Fasher, we call on you to gather in downtown like other towns and villages who are calling on President Bashir to .

Sudan protesters urge Darfur demos as new rallies planned

Scientists have identified an extremely distant quasar that may provide a glimpse into the early history of the universe.
A quasar is a massive and extremely remote celestial object, emitting exceptionally large amounts of energy, and typically having a starlike image in a telescope.
Astronomers, using observations from Gemini Observatory, detected the light emitted from the dawn of time thanks to a foreground galaxy acting as a gravitational lens, which magnified the quasar's ancient light.
The Gemini observations provide critical pieces of the puzzle in confirming this object as the brightest appearing quasar so early in the history of the universe, raising hopes that more sources like this will be found.
Before the cosmos reached its billionth birthday, some of the very first cosmic light began a long journey through the expanding universe.
One particular beam of light, from an energetic source called a quasar, passed near an intervening galaxy, whose gravity bent and magnified the 

Ancient quasar provides glimpse into early universe

"Venom" star Tom Hardy and his wife, actor Charlotte Riley have become parents for the second time.
According to The Independent, Riley, 37, gave birth to a baby boy last month.
This is the second child for the couple.
Their first was born in October 2015. However, they never revealed the gender and the name of the child.
The couple, who got married in the South of France in July 2014, have remained fiercely private about their personal lives.
Hardy, 41, is also a father to a 10-year-old son, Louis Hardy, whom he shares with ex-girlfriend Rachel Speed.
The actor was previously married to producer Sarah Ward from 1999 to 2004.

Tom Hardy, Charlotte Riley welcome second child

Pakistan's Chief Justice Saqib Nisar has suspended the execution of a mentally ill former policeman, who was scheduled to be hanged on Monday, media reports said.
Chief Justice Nisar suspended the execution of Khizar Hayat late Saturday night following appeals from the prisoner's mother and human rights advocates calling for the suspension of his capital punishment.
The suspension came a day after a district and sessions judge scheduled Hayat's execution on January 15 at the Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail, the Express Tribune reported.
Hayat was sentenced to death in 2003 over the shooting of a fellow officer. He has spent nearly 15 years on death row. Hayat was first diagnosed as a schizophrenic in 2008 by jail medical authorities, Dawn reported.
Justice Nisar has also fixed the case for hearing on January 14, following calls from the rights organisations to review Hayat's case in the court.
"Taking notice of the issue, the chief justice suspended the sentence of the prisoner till further 

Pak chief justice stays execution of mentally ill policeman

At least 31 people were injured on Sunday when a bus they were travelling in overturned near a bridge in Nepal's Dhading district, police said.
One of the injured is in critical condition, they said, adding that he has been sent to a hospital in Kathmandu.
The bus carrying 41 passengers, which was en route Western Nepal's Bardia district from Kathmandu, overturned when the driver was taking a turn near the Hugdi bridge at Beni Ghatrorang area in Dhading, police said.
At least 31 passengers were injured in the accident. They were rescued by the locals and police and are undergoing treatment at Malekhu and Gajuri primary health centres.

31 injured in bus accident in Nepal

Scientists have used plant proteins to create a membrane that can spilt water into hydrogen fuel and oxygen using energy from the sun.
Researchers from the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory adapted a chemical reaction pathway, central to plant biology, to form the backbone of the process to extract into hydrogen fuel from water.
They combined two membrane-bound protein complexes to perform a complete conversion of water molecules to hydrogen and oxygen.
The work builds on an earlier study that examined one of these protein complexes, called Photosystem I, a membrane protein that can use energy from light to feed electrons to an inorganic catalyst that makes hydrogen.
This part of the reaction, however, represents only half of the overall process needed for hydrogen generation.
By using a second protein complex that uses energy from light to split water and take electrons from it, called Photosystem II, researchers were able to take electrons from water and ...

Plant membrane adapted to extract hydrogen fuel from water

Israel has uncovered all cross-border attack tunnels dug by Hezbollah from Lebanon and now plans to bring its operation to find and destroy them to an end, a military spokesman said Sunday.
"We have found yet another Hezbollah cross-border attack tunnel from Lebanon to Israel," Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told reporters of the operation that began on December 4.
"According to our intelligence and our assessment of the situation there are no longer any cross-border attack tunnels from Lebanon into Israel." The latest tunnel, found on Saturday, began in the Lebanese village of Ramyeh, some 800 metres (yards) away from Israel, the army said.
It reached a few dozen metres into Israel, and at 55 metres under the ground was the deepest as well as "the longest and most detailed" of all the tunnels the army exposed, Conricus said.
The latest tunnel was the sixth revealed to the public and the army said its discovery marked the end of the operation dubbed by the army "Northern ...

Israel says all Hezbollah cross-border tunnels found

An Afghan official says at least nine people were killed when a gas cylinder exploded in Kabul.
Wahidullah Mayar, spokesman for the Public Health Ministry, says several people were also injured in the late Saturday explosion inside a residential house in the Afghan capital.
Such incidents are common in Afghanistan, especially during the bitterly cold winters.
Last week, a fire that began at a gas station in Kabul, spread overnight to a nearby apartment complex, killing three people and causing much damage.
Authorities said 42 suffered burns and other injuries.
A gas-filled tanker parked at the station caught fire, causing the blaze to spread quickly.
A police investigation is still under way into that incident.

Afghan official: Gas cylinder blast leaves 9 dead in Kabul

Cesare Battisti, an Italian sought by Rome for four murders attributed to a far-left group in the 1970s, was in Bolivia and will be extradited to Brazil and then likely to Italy, a senior aide to Brazil's new president said Sunday.
Italy has repeatedly sought the extradition of Battisti, who has lived in Brazil for years under the protection of former leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010), now in prison for corruption.
"Italian terrorist Cesare Battisti was detained in Bolivia (Saturday night) and will be soon brought to Brazil, from where he will probably be sent to Italy to serve a life sentence," tweeted Filipe G Martins, a senior aide on international affairs to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
During Brazil's recent presidential campaign the far-right Bolsonaro -- who took office on January 1 -- vowed that if elected he would "immediately" extradite Battisti to Italy.
In mid-December Brazil's outgoing president, Michel Temer, signed an extradition order for ..

Italian ex-militant Battisti arrested in Bolivia

Actor Anne Hathaway says the toughest part of hosting the Academy Awards is facing the criticism the very next day.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the 36-year-old actor, who had emceed the Oscars in 2011 with James Franco, said the getting the feedback for the gig next day is difficult to face.
"It feels nice, everybody tells you it's going well while you're doing it. While you're doing it, it's like doing anything, you know?
"My approach to all this stuff is really simple: we're lucky. Whether or not it does well or it bombs, this is the stuff of dreams. This is not something to get upset about," Hathaway said.
The Oscar winner said failing at the hosting job does "sting a bit."
"I think it might end up being a net positive over life. Well, the lessons that I learned, the life lessons about whom to trust and when to trust them, that's going to be the net positive," she added.
Hathaway also shared her views about the controversy surrounding Kevin Hart, who recently ...

Anne Hathaway explains why it is difficult to host Oscars

A high-ranking Yemeni intelligence official injured in a Huthi rebel drone attack on the country's largest air base died of his wounds on Sunday, medical sources said.
Intelligence Brigadier General Saleh Tamah was wounded on Thursday in a strike on a military parade in Al-Anad air base, in government-held Lahij province some 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Yemen's second city Aden.
Medical sources told AFP that Tamah underwent several surgeries in a hospital in Aden but died Sunday morning.
At least seven loyalists -- including Tamah -- were killed and 11 injured in Thursday's incident, which threatens to hamper United Nations-led peace efforts.
Among those injured were Yemen's deputy chief of staff Saleh al-Zandani, senior army commander Fadel Hasan and Lahij governor Ahmad Abdullah al-Turki.
Turki and Zandani were transported to Saudi Arabia for treatment, a Yemeni official told AFP.
The UN voiced alarm on Friday following the attack and urged "all parties to the conflict to ...

Top Yemen brass injured in rebel drone strike dies: medics

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are both gunning for a record seventh Australian Open crown from Monday, but Andy Murray will make his last appearance in Melbourne as the era of the "Big Four" draws to a close.
Number one Djokovic and third seed Federer face a stern challenge from the likes of youthful force Alexander Zverev, seeded four, who is still looking for a first major to cement his place as torch-bearer for the next generation.
But Murray dropped a pre-Grand Slam bombshell, breaking down during a tear-filled press conference as he revealed chronic hip pain means he will retire after Wimbledon -- if he can carry on that long.
And question marks remain over the fitness of world number two Rafael Nadal who pulled out of his Brisbane warm-up but arrived in Melbourne professing he was "fully fit" and promising to unleash a remodelled serve.
It all means the era of the "Big Four" is almost over after a season in which Federer -- who opens his title defence against Denis Istomin on 

Seventh heaven beckons for Federer, Djokovic at Open as Murray bows out

Heat trapped by greenhouse gases is raising ocean temperatures faster than previously thought, according to a new research which shows that earlier claims of a slowdown or "hiatus" in global warming over the past 15 years were unfounded.
Ocean heating is critical marker of climate change because an estimated 93 per cent of the excess solar energy trapped by greenhouse gases accumulates in the world's oceans.
Unlike surface temperatures, ocean temperatures are not affected by year-to-year variations caused by climate events like El Nino or volcanic eruptions.
"If you want to see where global warming is happening, look in our oceans," said Zeke Hausfather, a graduate student at the University of California (UC) Berkeley, in the US.
"Ocean heating is a very important indicator of climate change, and we have robust evidence that it is warming more rapidly than we thought," said Hausfather.
The new analysis, published in the journal Science, shows that trends in ocean heat content match ...

Oceans warming faster than previously thought

India plans to achieve electric mobility by 2030 and welcomes Chinese industries participation and investment in the expansion of Indian Electric Vehicles (EV) Market, NITI Aayog Principal Advisor Anil Srivatsava has said.
Srivastava, who led an industry delegation from India and addressed summit forum 'Global Zero Emission and All Electric Vehicle' held from January 11-13, met Chen Qingtai, President of China EV100, and invited China's participation in India's ambitious plans to go for full electric mobility.
"He mentioned that for India's ambitious objective of achieving electric mobility by 2030, we see very substantive role for the Chinese EV players," a press release from the Indian Embassy here said on Sunday.
China EV100, a private electric vehicle association of over 200 leading Chinese electric mobility industries, is organising the 5th China EV100 Forum in Beijing. The government as well as industry representatives from all over the world attended the event.
China is both ...

India invites Chinese participation in its plans to expand Electric Vehicles

Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri ended with a one-over 71 in the third round that saw him drop to three-under 207 for a Tied-63rd spot at the Sony Open here.
The lead stayed with Matt Kuchar, who kept another clean card and shot a 4-under 66 to take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Sony Open as he goes for his second victory this season on the PGA TOUR.
Kuchar ended a three-year drought by winning the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico last fall.
In his third round, Lahiri found seven of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens in regulation but left no misses on putts within 10 feet.
Lahiri bogeyed the 460-yard par-4 sixth, getting on the green in 2 and three putting, moving him to one-over for the round.
At the 477-yard par-4 13th, Lahiri's tee shot went 269 yards to the right rough, his second shot went 180 yards to the right front greenside bunker, and his sand shot went 29 yards to the green where he had a two-putt for a bogey.
His only birdie of the day came on ninth, when he landed his ..

Lahiri drops to Tied-63rd as Kuchar maintains lead at Sony Open

High taxation, lack of infrastructure and rising pollution levels are impeding the growth of yacht tourism in India, an industry expert has pointed out.
India has as high as 60 per cent tax on imports of yachts which is discouraging industry players from bringing luxurious boats into the country, Gulu Lalvani, the chairman of Royal Phuket Marina, told visiting Indian journalists on the sidelines of a yacht exhibition here.
At the same time, places like Phuket have zero import tax on boats and offer great price advantage to enthusiasts to own yachts at these places instead of importing into India, he explained.
Acknowledging the Narendra Modi-led government's efforts to promote cruise and sea tourism in India, he said the country with its vast coastline has a great potential for the yacht industry and creating jobs.
But rising pollution levels and lack of port base and berthing facilities are major challenges to growth, Lalvani noted. The growth has been limited to few places like ...

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