The Daily News-Journal from Murfreesboro, Tennessee • A8

8A DAILY NEWS Yesterday's National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High: in Needles, CA Low: in West Yellowstone, MT 110s100s90s80s70s60s50s40s30s20s10s0s-0s-10s showerst-stormscold warm front stationary front Monterrey Chihuahua Los Angeles Washington New York Miami Atlanta Detroit Houston Kansas City Chicago Minneapolis El Paso Denver Billings San Francisco Seattle Toronto Montreal Winnipeg 0 0 2 5 6 4 1 50100150200300 42 WEATHER NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY ALMANAC 6 A.M.NOON6 P.M.MIDNIGHT FORECASTEXTENDED FORECAST POP: Probability of precipitation Shown is weather. Temperatures are highs and lows. Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. Weather (W): -sunny, pc -partly cloudy, -cloudy, sh -showers, -thunderstorms, -rain, sf -snow flurries, sn -snow, i -ice. Bristol Murfreesboro Nashville Portland Columbia Lawrenceburg Middlesboro Knoxville Asheville Clarksville Jackson Dyersburg Union City Blytheville Memphis Oak Ridge La Follette Chattanooga REGIONAL CITIES RIVER AND LAKE LEVELS Levels as of 7 a.m.

yesterday WORLD CITIES NATIONAL CITIES Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. The higher the AccuWeather.com UV number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection. 0-2 Low; 3-5 Moderate; 6-7 High; 8-10 Very High; Extreme. The patented AccuWeather.com RealFeel Temperature is an exclusive index of ective temperature based on eight weather factors.

UV Index and RealFeel Today 6 a.m.8 a.m.10 a.m.Noon2 p.m.4 p.m.6 p.m. CONDITIONS TODAY Hi Lo Hi Lo Hi Lo Hi Lo Hi Lo Hi Lo Hi Lo Hi Lo Hi Lo Hi Lo Full 24 hr. Lake Level Pool Chg. Gauge Flood 24 hr. West Fork Stones River Height Stage Chg.

AIR QUALITY INDEX Source: Nashville.govTodayYesterday Precipitation Sun and Moon High Low Temperature 24 hours ending 5 p.m. yest. 1.71" Month to date 3.01" Year to date 31.53" Normal month to date 0.76" Normal year to date 29.84" Annual normal 47.25" Yesterday Last year Normals Records (1930) (2004) Sunrise today 5:59 a.m. Sunset tonight 7:43 p.m. Moonrise today 8:25 p.m.

Moonset today 6:44 a.m. LastNewFirstFull Aug 14Aug 21Aug 29Sep 6 POP: POP: POP: POP: Periods of clouds and sunshine today. Patchy clouds and humid tonight. High Low POP: WEDNESDAY Humid with variable clouds POP: THURSDAY An afternoon t-storm in spots POP: FRIDAY Clouds and sun with a t-storm POP: SATURDAY Mostly cloudy with a t-storm What part of a hurricane is the most dangerous? Usually the right front quadrant 71748187918984 WEATHER Today Wed. Asheville 76 62 pc 76 63 Atlanta 78 70 80 70 Birmingham 79 72 81 72 Chattanooga 82 68 82 69 Jackson, MS 79 72 85 72 Little Rock 84 69 pc 86 69 Louisville 83 61 84 68 pc Memphis 87 70 pc 87 72 pc Nashville 84 65 pc 85 69 Today Wed.

Today Wed. Today Wed. Today Wed. Boston 72 61 pc 82 64 Charleston, SC 85 71 82 73 Chicago 83 62 83 65 pc Cleveland 78 59 83 61 Detroit 83 60 85 63 pc Evansville 83 60 83 63 pc Honolulu 88 76 pc 89 76 sh Indianapolis 80 59 82 61 Las Vegas 105 81 106 82 Los Angeles 87 66 pc 86 66 pc Miami 92 81 91 79 New Orleans 89 76 pc 89 75 New York 80 65 pc 82 67 Phoenix 109 84 111 86 Pittsburgh 75 54 pc 81 60 Providence 75 60 pc 82 62 Richmond 80 63 pc 85 62 pc Sacramento 91 61 93 61 St. Louis 84 65 86 66 pc San Francisco 72 60 pc 72 60 pc Tampa 92 76 93 76 Washington, DC 82 65 pc 84 66 Amsterdam 69 55 68 54 Baghdad 122 87 123 91 Barbados 87 79 pc 87 80 sh Cairo 97 79 97 78 Dublin 60 49 pc 65 47 pc Frankfurt 74 57 77 57 pc Geneva 70 58 74 56 sh Hong Kong 93 85 93 84 Jerusalem 89 70 91 71 Kabul 97 66 97 64 Kuwait 120 91 119 89 London 64 55 62 53 Mexico City 79 54 pc 75 56 pc Moscow 72 55 73 53 Paris 71 54 70 54 Rome 91 72 pc 91 73 pc San Jose 83 65 82 66 Sydney 65 49 69 48 Tokyo 90 81 sh 93 78 pc Vancouver 77 60 pc 77 61 Much of the area from the Midwest to the Northeast will be dry with sunshine today.

Meanwhile, showers and storms will raise the risk of isolated flooding in the South Central and Southeastern states. Storms will dot the Rockies. A heat wave will continue in the Northwest. Sunshine with seasonable temperatures will hold in the Southwest. near Murfreesboro 2.54 Lake Barkley 357.90 356 Kentucky Lake (upper) 357.86 356 Kentucky Lake (lower) 300.20 302 Old Hickory Lake 444.25 445 Percy Priest Lake 490.67 Center Hill Lake 631.29 648 Nashville through 5 p.m.

yesterday Yesterday's main offender: Particulates LowModerat eH igh Source: Dr. Michael M. Miller, www.sneezeandwheeze.net POLLEN INDEX Rating for yesterday Main allergens: Grasses luxuriousnewfixturesinyourchoiceofcolorsandstylesinstalledby expertsatapriceyoucanafford.Satisfactionguaranteed. OFFERENDSSOON! 615-499-5689 OUTOF TOWN SALE! AMERICAN FORYOURFREEINHOMECONSULTATION! 615-499-5689 ORSHOWERREMODEL! PLUSNOPAYMENTS, NOINTERESTFOR12 TN-0001159448 Back pain is an excruciating fixture in millions of lives, but Vanderbilt University engineers are developing something that might be able to prevent it: smart underwear. They are developing a device, designed to be worn under regular clothing, that would activate elastic bands to relieve stress on back muscles when people are doing physical tasks.

The project is supported by funding from Vanderbilt, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, according to a statement from the university. Karl Zelik, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Vanderbilt and the lead investigator on the project, said he started thinking about wearable solutions to back pain because he suffered from it himself after repeatedly picking up his young son. sick of Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne being the only ones with performance-boosting super-suits. We, the masses, want our Zelik said in the university statement. difference is that not fighting crime.

fighting the odds that strain my back this week trying to lift my 2-year- Zelik led the research that ultimately led to the smart underwear, lightweight material that straps around the legs, chest and back. Users can activate it by tapping their shirts or using an app. Eight people tested the device by leaning forward and lifting 25-pound and 55-pound weights in different poses, the university said. team found that the device reduced activity in lower back muscles by an average of 15 to 45 percent, according to the statement. The device was unveiled last week and will be on display at an American Society of Biomechanics conference later this month, according to Vanderbilt.

Dr. Aaron Yang, a co-investigator on the project who treats back and neck pain at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said in the university statement that the device could help people prevent back pain before it occurs by reducing stress on the lower back. Yang said this device stands out in a crowded field of belts and back braces because it is rooted in proven research. Reach Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5986 and Follow him on Twitter Want to prevent back pain? Smart underwear could help, Vanderbilt engineers say ADAM TAMBURIN USA TODAY NETWORK TENNESSEE Older people are dying on the job at a higher rate than workers overall, even as the rate of workplace fatalities decreases, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal statistics. a trend particularly alarming as baby boomers reject the traditional retirement age of 65 and keep working.

The U.S. government estimates that by 2024, older workers will account for 25 percent of the labor market. Gerontologists say physical changes associated with aging include gradually worsening vision and hearing impairment, reduced response time, balance issues and chronic medical or muscle or bone problems such as arthritis. In 2015, about 35 percent of the fatal workplace accidents involved a worker 55 and older 1,681 of the 4,836 fatalities reported nationally. In Tennessee, about 32 percent of the 112 accidents in 2015 involved a person 55 or older.

The fatality rate for older workers was 5.5 per 100,000 workers in Tennessee, nearly 50 percent higher than the overall rate. The AP analysis showed that overall workplace fatality rate for all workers and for those 55 and older decreased by 22 percent between 2006 and 2015. But the rate of fatal accidents among older workers during that time period was 50 percent to 65 percent higher than for all workers, depending on the year. The number of deaths among all workers dropped from 5,480 in 2005 to 4,836 in 2015. By contrast, on-the-job fatalities among older workers increased slightly, from 1,562 to 1,681, the analysis shows.

During that time period, the number of older people in the workplace increased by 37 percent. That compares with a 6 percent rise in the population of workers overall. Ruth Finkelstein, co-director of Columbia Aging Center, cautions against stereotyping. She said older people have a range of physical and mental abilities and that dangerous to lump all people in an age group together because it could lead to discrimination. just not positive that 55-70 year olds need so much more protection than workers 52-20, but are all those people needing protection now? Yes, absolutely.

We are not paying enough attention to occupational safety in this The AP analysis is based on data from the Bureau of Labor Census for Fatal Occupational Injuries and from one-year estimates from the American Community Survey, which looks at the working population. It excludes cases where the cause of death was from a including a heart attack, stroke among others. AP also examined the number and types of accidents in which older workers died between 2011, when the bureau changed the way it categorized accidents, to 2015: Fall-related fatalities rose 20 percent. Contact with objects and equipment increased 17 percent. Transportation accidents increased 15 percent.

Fires and explosions decreased by 8 percent. expect that there will be more older workers increasing each year and they will represent a greater share (of the fatalities) over the last couple of said Scott, the Denver epidemiologist. issue of elevated risk is something we should be paying close attention An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found in 2013 that 44 percent of older Americans said their job required physical effort most or almost all of the time, and 36 percent said it was more difficult to complete the physical requirements of their jobs than it was when they were younger. In most states, the fatal accident rates for older workers were consistently higher than comparable rates for all workers. In Tennessee, both the overall fatality rate and the fatality rate of older workers decreased during the 10-year period.

The overall rate fell to 3.7 per 100,000 workers, down from 5.5 in 2006. The number of accidents declined to 112 from 153. Among older workers, the rate dropped to 5.5 per 100,000 workers from 11.1. The number of accidents declined to 36 from 54. Steve Hawkins, assistant commissioner of Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration, attributed the decline to greater emphasis on safety.

Workers compensation insurance costs are tied to an safety record and project owners increasingly factor safety records into hiring decisions. owners of projects have an increased focus on workplace safety and Hawkins said. will screen the people who are allowed to bid on their projects based on their past experience with injuries and Transportation accidents account for a large portion of fatal workplace incidents among both older workers and workers in general. The AP analysis showed that older workers were involved in about 1 in 4 fatal workplace accidents related to fires and explosions from 2011 to 2015. The National Center for Productive Aging and Work, part of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, is pushing for changes in the workplace to make it safer for older workers.

advocate to make workplaces as age friendly as said co-director James Grosch. NOTE Maria Ines Zamudio is studying aging and workforce issues as part of a 10-month fellowship at The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which joins independent research and AP journalism. The fellowship is funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation BRYAN, TEXAS FIRE DEPARTMENT VIA AP Bryan Texas firefighters transport injured worker in a stretcher to the ambulance. An explosion at the Bryan Texas Utilities Power Plant left a 60-year-old employee dead and two injured.

Older people dying on job at higher rate than all workers MARIA INES ZAMUDIO AND MICHELLE MINKOFF ASSOCIATED PRESS AND JAMIE MCGEE USA TODAY NETWORK TENNESSEE news.