Free-Energy Calculations in Complex Systems

Surfactant assemblies are characterized by soft intermolecular interactions and can be deformed or topologically altered by thermal or mechanical stress of the magnitude of thermal fluctuations. In biology, the protein mediated remodeling of the lipid membrane is essential for many cellular processes such as membrane fission, fusion, formation of lipid droplets or cell lysis. Quantifying the free-energy differences between end states of formed intermediates can provide valuable insights into the potential roles and mechanisms of cellular remodeling proteins. The aim of this project was to develop and apply a versatile free-energy calculation protocol to enable the estimation of free-energy differences between meta-stable states of lipid assemblies. We propose a novel method coined ‘Density Field Thermodynamic Integration’ (DFTI) which adopts the universality and transferability of alchemical methods while simultaneously exploiting the soft excess interactions between surfactant molecules. DFTI is designed for a rapid quantification of the free energy differences between different metastable structures in soft, fluid materials. Combining thermodynamic integration, one of the most established free-energy methods with a density-based external potential, offers the possibility to outline morphologies along a reversible path connecting two meta-stable states. The same holds true for the string method adaptation used in this work, which was first used in this combination by Smirnova et al. to calculate the minimum free energy path (MFEP) for stalk formation between two apposing membranes and the influence of the presence of SNARE transmembrane domains. Both methods were tested on three example systems: the breaking of a worm-like micelle and a toroidal micelle and the formation of a stalk. In all cases DFTI and string method yielded comparable results. This work explores the usage of density field based free energy methods in its predictive power and limitations. In addition, lipid droplets, as an example for membranes as active players in biological processes, are investigated with a focus on their emergence and the role of the related protein seipin.2021-06-0

Healthy Back Promotion Program: Barriers to Implementation

The Occupational Health Nurse Practitioners (OHNPs) and the education specialist at a community hospital in northern California designed and implemented the Patient Lifting Equipment Program and protocol. After 1 year, the investigator used a questionnaire to identify and describe 17 female subjects\u27 barriers to implementing the new equipment and protocol and their risk factors for back injuries. The barriers that the subjects cited most often were increased time to prepare and use the devices and the lack of staff who could assist with the lifts. Risk factors, e.g., age, body mass index, hours worked, stress on the job, and social support influenced some subjects\u27 risk taking behaviors for back injuries. By considering the multiple factors involved in providing healthy back promotion/injury prevention principles for their clients, primary care providers and OHNPs can determine when a client with a work-related back injury may return safely to work

Utah Growing Water Smart: The Water-Land Use Integration Guidebook

The Utah Growing Water Smart workshops bring together teams of key community staff and water and land use planning decision makers to help build a more resilient and sustainable water future. The workshops use a range of public engagement, planning, communication, and policy implementation tools to help community teams realize their water efficiency, smart growth, watershed health, and water resiliency goals. This 2nd edition of the Utah Growing Water Smart curriculum guidebook was prepared for the workshop focused on Northern Utah and held at Utah State University on June 6-8, 2023. This guidebook has four main sections: Planning and Goal Setting; Water Smart Land Use and Development Policies; Watershed Resilience and Water Smart Infrastructure; and, Water Conservation and Efficiency Tools. Each section includes more detailed information on particular water smart tools in “Toolbox” subsections, along with case studies highlighting implementation examples. An Additional Resources section at the end guides readers to many other sources of information

Utah Growing Water Smart: The Water-Land Use Integration Guidebook

The Utah Growing Water Smart workshops bring together teams of key community staff and water and land use planning decision makers to help build a more resilient and sustainable water future. The workshops use a range of public engagement, planning, communication, and policy implementation tools to help community teams realize their water efficiency, smart growth, watershed health, and water resiliency goals. This 1st edition of the Utah Growing Water Smart curriculum guidebook was prepared for the inaugural Utah workshop focused on Wasatch Front communities and held at the Wheeler Historical Farm in Murray, Utah on November 15-17, 2022. This guidebook has four main sections: Planning and Goal Setting; Water Smart Land Use and Development Policies; Watershed Resilience and Water Smart Infrastructure; and, Water Conservation and Efficiency Tools. Each section includes more detailed information on particular water smart tools in “Toolbox” subsections, along with case studies highlighting implementation examples. An Additional Resources section at the end guides readers to many other sources of information

Cache Water District: Risks and Opportunities: Research and Policy Analysis Report on Formation of a Water Conservancy District in Cache County, Utah

In the November 2016 election, Cache County residents will vote on Proposition #11, Formation of the Cache Water District. The question before voters is: Should the Cache Water District be created? Voters can respond “yes” or “no.” The Cache County Water Master Plan was released in 2013. Discussion and analysis conducted through that planning effort suggested that a water conservancy district would be the best organizational structure for Cache County and its municipalities to collectively and cooperatively manage water. Cache County created the Bridgerland Water Conservancy Work Group (BWC Work Group) to draft a purpose statement and bylaws for the district so that voters would have a better understanding of the district’s proposed structure and what it could do. The BWC Work Group chose to have 11 members on the Board of Trustees, 10 elected in non-partisan elections and 1 appointed by the Cache County Council to represent agricultural interests. If approved, the Cache Water District will be the first water conservancy district with an elected board in the state of Utah

Piping Water from Rural Counties to Fuel Growth in Las Vegas, Nevada: Water Transfer Risks in the Arid USA West

The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) plans to build a 300-mile pipeline to transfer groundwater from five rural basins in north-eastern Nevada south to the greater Las Vegas metropolitan area. Relying on the path dependence literature, we trace the policy choices and legal battles that have led to southern Nevada’s proposed Groundwater Development Project. We find that policy decisions over time, often initiated by powerful water policy entrepreneurs, have fuelled southern Nevada’s rapid growth and development. After emphasising water demand management for more than two decades, SNWA has revived its controversial plans to increase water supplies by importing water from rural areas. Using semi-structured key-informant interviews and document analysis of water right hearing transcripts, public comments, and hearing rulings, we examine the risks and uncertainties involved in SNWA’s Groundwater Development Project. SNWA and the protestors of the project experience different aspects of risk and uncertainty. SNWA believes the Groundwater Development Project is an essential addition to its current water strategy to reduce the political and economic risks from Colorado River shortages that could endanger southern Nevada’s longer-term economic survival. Protestors believe the uncertainty of SNWA’s mitigation and management plans are inadequate to protect rural basins from the long-term ecological and hydrological risks and uncertainties associated with SNWA’s pumping and export of groundwater from their areas. Our analysis reveals a much deeper and longer path dependence trajectory in the USA West of overpopulating an arid region, subsidising decades of infrastructure development to promote economic development, and creating dependencies on increasingly scarce water supplies. A paradigm shift much larger than water demand management is required to reverse this trajectory and deal with the dilemmas of unabated growth in desert metropolitan areas dependent on distant water sources