Trusting Telework in the Federal Government

Despite an Executive Office mandate to permit federal workers to telework, federal managers still deny employees this benefit. Several factors have been attributed to their aversion, including lack of trust. Findings from a hermeneutic phenomenological study exploring the lived experiences and perceptions of 12 federal government managers who prohibit their employees from teleworking (Brown, 2013) was analyzed to identify themes related to trust. Of the eight themes Brown identified, five focused on lack of trust. This paper discusses those five trust-related themes and recommends success factors for enabling leaders’ trust of telework are discussed

Polycistronic Delivery of IL-10 and NT-3 Promotes Oligodendrocyte Myelination and Functional Recovery in a Mouse Spinal Cord Injury Model.

One million estimated cases of spinal cord injury (SCI) have been reported in the United States and repairing an injury has constituted a difficult clinical challenge. The complex, dynamic, inhibitory microenvironment postinjury, which is characterized by proinflammatory signaling from invading leukocytes and lack of sufficient factors that promote axonal survival and elongation, limits regeneration. Herein, we investigated the delivery of polycistronic vectors, which have the potential to coexpress factors that target distinct barriers to regeneration, from a multiple channel poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLG) bridge to enhance spinal cord regeneration. In this study, we investigated polycistronic delivery of IL-10 that targets proinflammatory signaling, and NT-3 that targets axonal survival and elongation. A significant increase was observed in the density of regenerative macrophages for IL-10+NT-3 condition relative to conditions without IL-10. Furthermore, combined delivery of IL-10+NT-3 produced a significant increase of axonal density and notably myelinated axons compared with all other conditions. A significant increase in functional recovery was observed for IL-10+NT-3 delivery at 12 weeks postinjury that was positively correlated to oligodendrocyte myelinated axon density, suggesting oligodendrocyte-mediated myelination as an important target to improve functional recovery. These results further support the use of multiple channel PLG bridges as a growth supportive substrate and platform to deliver bioactive agents to modulate the SCI microenvironment and promote regeneration and functional recovery. Impact statement Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in a complex microenvironment that contains multiple barriers to regeneration and functional recovery. Multiple factors are necessary to address these barriers to regeneration, and polycistronic lentiviral gene therapy represents a strategy to locally express multiple factors simultaneously. A bicistronic vector encoding IL-10 and NT-3 was delivered from a poly(lactide-co-glycolide) bridge, which provides structural support that guides regeneration, resulting in increased axonal growth, myelination, and subsequent functional recovery. These results demonstrate the opportunity of targeting multiple barriers to SCI regeneration for additive effects

PLG Bridge Implantation in Chronic SCI Promotes Axonal Elongation and Myelination.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition that may cause permanent functional loss below the level of injury, including paralysis and loss of bladder, bowel, and sexual function. Patients are rarely treated immediately, and this delay is associated with tissue loss and scar formation that can make regeneration at chronic time points more challenging. Herein, we investigated regeneration using a poly(lactide-co-glycolide) multichannel bridge implanted into a chronic SCI following surgical resection of necrotic tissue. We characterized the dynamic injury response and noted that scar formation decreased at 4 and 8 weeks postinjury (wpi), yet macrophage infiltration increased between 4 and 8 wpi. Subsequently, the scar tissue was resected and bridges were implanted at 4 and 8 wpi. We observed robust axon growth into the bridge and remyelination at 6 months after initial injury. Axon densities were increased for 8 week bridge implantation relative to 4 week bridge implantation, whereas greater myelination, particularly by Schwann cells, was observed with 4 week bridge implantation. The process of bridge implantation did not significantly decrease the postinjury function. Collectively, this chronic model follows the pathophysiology of human SCI, and bridge implantation allows for clear demarcation of the regenerated tissue. These data demonstrate that bridge implantation into chronic SCI supports regeneration and provides a platform to investigate strategies to buttress and expand regeneration of neural tissue at chronic time points

Codesigned Shared Decision-Making Diabetes Management Plan Tool for Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and Their Parents: Prototype Development and Pilot Test

Background: Adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus have difficulty achieving optimal glycemic control, partly due to competing priorities that interfere with diabetes self-care. Often, significant diabetes-related family conflict occurs, and adolescents’ thoughts and feelings about diabetes management may be disregarded. Patient-centered diabetes outcomes may be better when adolescents feel engaged in the decision-making process. Objective: The objective of our study was to codesign a clinic intervention using shared decision making for addressing diabetes self-care with an adolescent patient and parent advisory board. Methods: The patient and parent advisory board consisted of 6 adolescents (teens) between the ages 12 and 18 years with type 1 diabetes mellitus and their parents recruited through our institution’s Pediatric Diabetes Program. Teens and parents provided informed consent and participated in 1 or both of 2 patient and parent advisory board sessions, lasting 3 to 4 hours each. Session 1 topics were (1) patient-centered outcomes related to quality of life, parent-teen shared diabetes management, and shared family experiences; and (2) implementation and acceptability of a patient-centered diabetes care plan intervention where shared decision making was used. We analyzed audio recordings, notes, and other materials to identify and extract ideas relevant to the development of a patient-centered diabetes management plan. These data were visually coded into similar themes. We used the information to develop a prototype for a diabetes management plan tool that we pilot tested during session 2. Results: Session 1 identified 6 principal patient-centered quality-of-life measurement domains: stress, fear and worry, mealtime struggles, assumptions and judgments, feeling abnormal, and conflict. We determined 2 objectives to be principally important for a diabetes management plan intervention: (1) focusing the intervention on diabetes distress and conflict resolution strategies, and (2) working toward a verbalized common goal. In session 2, we created the diabetes management plan tool according to these findings and will use it in a clinical trial with the aim of assisting with patient-centered goal setting. Conclusions: Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus can be effectively engaged and involved in patient-centered research design. Teens with type 1 diabetes mellitus prioritize reducing family conflict and fitting into their social milieu over health outcomes at this time in their lives. It is important to acknowledge this when designing interventions to improve health outcomes in teens with type 1 diabetes mellitus

Investigating the Solubility and Cytocompatibility of CaO-Na2O-SiO2/TiO2 Bioactive Glasses

This study aims to investigate the solubility of a series of titanium (TiO2)-containing bioactive glasses and their subsequent effect on cell viability. Five glasses were synthesized in the composition range SiO2-Na2O-CaO with 5 mol % of increments TiO2 substituted for SiO2. Glass solubility was investigated with respect to (1) exposed surface area, (2) particle size, (3) incubation time, and (4) compositional effects. Ion release profiles showed that sodium (Na+) presented high release rates after 1 day and were unchanged between 7 and 14 days. Calcium (Ca2+) release presented a significant change at each time period and was also composition dependent, where a reduction in Ca2+ release is observed with an increase in TiO2 concentration. Silica (Si4+) release did not present any clear trends while no titanium (Ti4+) was released. Cell numbers were found to increase up to 44%, compared to the growing control population, with a reduction in particle size and with the inclusion of TiO2 in the glass composition

Developing an ecosystems approach – dry stone walls

This report presents results from a return-on-investment (ROI) model developed to explore ways in which historic environment values can be incorporated into the four categories of ecosystem services. The model is based on identifying and monetising the benefit flows from ecosystem services provided by dry stone walls in the Peak District National Park (PDNP). The overall project aims involved: development of a methodology for recording the public and environmental benefits (goods and services)flowing from dry stone walls in the PDNP; identification of those benefits in a way that is compatible with the language associated with ‘ecosystem services’ and ‘natural capital’; attribution of value (economic and non- economic) to those benefits (services); and, to recommend other heritage assets for which this approach would be suitable

Highly conserved molecular pathways, including Wnt signaling, promote functional recovery from spinal cord injury in lampreys

© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 742, doi:10.1038/s41598-017-18757-1.In mammals, spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to dramatic losses in neurons and synaptic connections, and consequently function. Unlike mammals, lampreys are vertebrates that undergo spontaneous regeneration and achieve functional recovery after SCI. Therefore our goal was to determine the complete transcriptional responses that occur after SCI in lampreys and to identify deeply conserved pathways that promote regeneration. We performed RNA-Seq on lamprey spinal cord and brain throughout the course of functional recovery. We describe complex transcriptional responses in the injured spinal cord, and somewhat surprisingly, also in the brain. Transcriptional responses to SCI in lampreys included transcription factor networks that promote peripheral nerve regeneration in mammals such as Atf3 and Jun. Furthermore, a number of highly conserved axon guidance, extracellular matrix, and proliferation genes were also differentially expressed after SCI in lampreys. Strikingly, ~3% of differentially expressed transcripts belonged to the Wnt pathways. These included members of the Wnt and Frizzled gene families, and genes involved in downstream signaling. Pharmacological inhibition of Wnt signaling inhibited functional recovery, confirming a critical role for this pathway. These data indicate that molecular signals present in mammals are also involved in regeneration in lampreys, supporting translational relevance of the model.We gratefully acknowledge support from the National Institutes of Health (R03NS078519 to OB; R01GM104123 to JJS; R01NS078165 to JRM), The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and The Marine Biological Laboratory, including the Charles Evans Foundation Research Award, the Albert and Ellen Grass Foundation Faculty Research Award, and The Eugene and Millicent Bell Fellowship Fund in Tissue Engineering

Heritage, Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services: Historic Buildings and their Associated Boundaries. Project Report. Historic England, Portsmouth.

This project explores and tests how the cultural heritage values of buildings and structures can be incorporated into an ecosystem services framework, through considering them as both an integral part of their associated historic spaces and of their wider landscape settings. The project applies a methodology that identifies the ecosystem service outcomes from buildings, expressed in terms of flows of benefits over time, and attributes monetary values that are compatible with the ecosystem services approach. The method focuses on identifying and measuring the flow of ecosystem services over time arising from the current level of ‘natural capital’ (the stock), in a site or a defined area. The project team have developed and applied an environmental value accounting model that identifies the benefits and attributes the values associated with historic buildings and structures. The model is based on a ‘return-on-investment’ accounting framework that integrates historic function, character and significance of buildings (or other structures) with a range of agricultural, environmental, economic, and social functions to analyse the range of values generated. The cultural heritage (historic) value of buildings in the case study areas is assessed through the integration of three scored characteristics (time depth, inter-relationships, legibility). This desk-based identification of the extent to which the historic buildings and structures in an area contribute ecosystem services is aimed at enhancing understanding of the value of the annual flow of benefits generated by cultural heritage