Phase 0 Participation Implementation Guide v1.1: A Pre-Opening PI and Laboratory Readiness Guide for the Sal-Meter / CAIS Kernel Program

This document is a non-canonical public operational helper for principal investigators, lab leads, and technical groups preparing to engage the Sal-Meter / CAIS program under the current kernel-program-first structure. Scope:Research-stage / non-diagnostic / non-therapeutic. This guide is rewritten to match the current project reality:external Layer-0 feasibility comes first;SICS internal Phase 0, Phase 1, Phase 2a, and Phase 2b remain kernel-building steps;LOCK 1 and LOCK 2 must hold before broader external opening. It does not announce a broad competition as already open. What this document is:• a public readiness guide for principal investigators, lab leads, and technical groups• a helper layer translating the updated execution order, current claims boundary, and public leadership frame into operational preparation• a pre-opening participation and readiness document What this document is not:• not a canonical definition• not a certification document• not proof that broad participation is already active• not a medical, diagnostic, therapeutic, anesthesia, or psychiatric use authorization Current structural rule:External Layer-0 precedes internal Phase 0.Internal Phase 0 through Phase 2b are SICS kernel-building stages.Broader opening belongs after LOCK 1 and LOCK 2 review, not before. Current external entry modes:• Path A — External Layer-0 support• Path B — Quiet readiness preparation• Path C — Future broader opening This guide helps serious laboratories prepare now by structuring:• protocol readiness• integrity controls• leakage firewall logic• statistical readiness• archive and replay discipline• machine-readable submission spines• future-ready documentation habits Core readiness layers include:• Baseline → Induction → Recovery protocol structure• negative controls• train/test split discipline• fold-internal preprocessing• balanced accuracy and permutation-readiness• hash-locked dataset packaging• replayable analysis scripts• machine-readable JSON submission fields The public leadership frame is:• ESL — Electrochemical Systems Lead• EStL — Evidence & Standardization Lead Specialized contributors may still exist, but public-facing readiness and participation language should no longer replace the ESL / EStL top-level frame. Public claims boundary:What may be said now:• research-stage molecular–electrochemical signal interface program• CAIS-aligned external feasibility or readiness work• non-therapeutic, non-diagnostic experimental architecture• preparatory PI / lab readiness before broader opening• open-science, non-exclusive future standardization pathway What should not be said now:• that a validated commercial Sal-Meter already exists• that a broad external competition is already open from the first step• that diagnosis, treatment, anesthesia control, or psychiatric judgment has been established• that private substitute indices may replace VCE / CRI / CFI• that non-aptamer or non-iodine systems are automatically equivalent All binding authority remains fixed in the DOI-registered canonical layer.This guide sits beneath the canonical layer and above ad hoc email or meeting language.