The nurse-led equitable learning framework for training programs: A framework to grow, bolster and diversify the nursing and public health workforce.

BACKGROUND: Addressing threats to the nursing and public health workforce, while also strengthening the skills of current and future workers, requires programmatic solutions. Training programs should be guided by frameworks, which leverage nursing expertise and leadership, partnerships, and integrate ongoing evaluation. PURPOSE STATEMENT: This article provides a replicable framework to grow, bolster, and diversify the nursing and public health workforces, known as the Nurse-led Equitable Learning (NEL) Framework for Training Programs. The framework has been applied by several multipronged, federally funded training programs led by investigators embedded in an academic nursing institution. METHODS: The NEL framework focuses on: (1) increasing equitable access to the knowledge, skills, and competencies needed to prepare a diverse workforce to deliver effective interventions; (2) fostering academic-practice linkages and community partnerships to facilitate the deployment of newly gained knowledge and skills to address ongoing and emerging challenges in care delivery; and (3) continuously evaluating and disseminating findings to inform expansion and replication of programs. RESULTS: Ten programs using this framework have successfully leveraged $18.3 million in extramural funding to support over 1000 public health professionals and trainees. Longitudinal evaluation efforts indicate that public health workers, including nurses, are benefiting from the programs' workplace trainings, future clinicians are being rigorously trained to identify and address determinants of health to improve patient and community well-being, and educators are engaging in novel pedagogical opportunities to enhance their ability to deliver high quality public health education. CONCLUSIONS: Training programs may apply the NEL framework to ensure that the nursing and public health workforces achieve equitable, sustainable growth and deliver high quality evidence-based care.

CRISPR/Cas9 targeted mutations of OsDSG1 gene enhanced salt tolerance in rice.

Salinization is one of the leading causes of arable land shrinkage and rice yield decline, recently. Therefore, developing and utilizing salt-tolerant rice varieties have been seen as a crucial and urgent strategy to reduce the effects of saline intrusion and protect food security worldwide. In the current study, the CRISPR/Cas9 system was utilized to induce targeted mutations in the coding sequence of the OsDSG1, a gene involved in the ubiquitination pathway and the regulation of biochemical reactions in rice. The CRISPR/Cas9-induced mutations of the OsDSG1 were generated in a local rice cultivar and the mutant inheritance was validated at different generations. The OsDSG1 mutant lines showed an enhancement in salt tolerance compared to wild type plants at both germination and seedling stages indicated by increases in plant height, root length, and total fresh weight as well as the total chlorophyll and relative water contents under the salt stress condition. In addition, lower proline and MDA contents were observed in mutant rice as compared to wild type plants in the presence of salt stress. Importantly, no effect on seed germination and plant growth parameters was recorded in the CRISRP/Cas9-induced mutant rice under the normal condition. This study again indicates the involvement of the OsDSG1 gene in the salt resistant mechanism in rice and provides a potential strategy to enhance the tolerance of local rice varieties to the salt stress.