Joint Report of Peer Review Panel for Numeric Nutrient Criteria for the Great Bay Estuary New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services June, 2009

This peer review was authorized through a collaborative agreement sponsored by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) and the Cities of Dover, Rochester and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The purpose was to conduct an independent scientific peer review of the document entitled, “Numeric Nutrient Criteria for the Great Bay Estuary,” dated June, 2009 (DES 2009 Report)

Forage Brassica use in New Zealand and Australia Farming Systems

Forage brassica, genus Brassica, are annual feed crops grown on farming enterprises throughout New Zealand and Australia. These crops provide a source of high-yielding, high-quality feed, which is particularly useful to complement pasture production during periods when pasture growth is reduced. There are six forage brassica species and subspecies of agricultural importance including bulb turnip, swede, kale, forage rape, leafy turnip, and raphanobrassica. All of these, as well as interspecific crosses and individual cultivars, offer a range of characteristics to fit various environmental and livestock production challenges. Consumption of forage brassica crops in ruminant animals may reduce methane emissions compared to traditional feed sources. Furthermore, recent technological developments using seed mutagenesis in breeding new forage brassica provide increased herbicide control of weed species. As with all feed sources, specific management, crop husbandry and animal health considerations apply. Overall, the use of forage brassica enables increased resilience in typical pasture-based farm systems

Developments in the Use of Plantain (\u3cem\u3ePlantago lanceolata\u3c/em\u3e) Cultivars in New Zealand Pastures

The use of pasture herbs, such as chicory, is commonplace in New Zealand in recent years. This has stimulated interest in other herb species such as plantain (Plantago lanceolata) that often occurs as a ubiquitous weed in temperate pastures throughout the world. In the last decade 2 improved commercial cultivars, Grasslands Lancelot (Rumball et al., 1997) and the erect, winter active Ceres Tonic (Stewart, 1996), have been bred in New Zealand for use in pastures. These cultivars have useful agronomic features that make them valuable for grazing. They are productive in mixtures, palatable to grazing animals, and tolerate a wide range of soils and dryland conditions (Stewart, 1996; Stewart & Charlton, 2003)

Protective Care: Mothering a Child Dependent on Parenteral Nutrition

Home care of technology-dependent infants and children has become an accepted and expected consequence of higher survival rates among critically ill newborns and children who develop chronic illnesses. One of the high-tech modalities which foster dependence of these infants and children is parenteral nutrition. Parenteral nutrition, also called total parenteral nutrition (TPN), supplies life-sustaining nutrients through a central venous catheter and requires the use of machinery to pump this fluid directly into the bloodstream. Due to the tremendous cost of prolonged hospitalization for these children, and the deleterious effects to the child, home care is considered an obvious and viable alternative. It is the mother who feels the impact of care. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of mothering a child dependent on parenteral nutrition. Nineteen mothers ranging in age from 19 to 54 years were asked to respond to open-ended questions. The resulting transcriptions were analyzed using constant comparative methodology to formulate a grounded theory. Protective Care emerged as the basic social process, which characterizes the ways these mothers safeguard the lives of the children in their care. Six categories explaining the antecedents, strategies and consequences of Protective Care were found. These are: (a) gaining control, (b) watching over, (c) challenging the system, (d) promoting normalcy, (e) putting life in perspective and (f) celebrating the positive. These mothers sought to gain control of the situation, by learning and organizing the child\u27s care. Their lives became consumed with the care of the child. They fought for reimbursement and issues related to home health care and schooling. Despite the challenges presented in the technological role they must assume in their mothering role, these mothers sought to promote normalcy in the child. Putting life in perspective allowed these mothers to maintain this intense role. Finally, they celebrated the positive aspects this child had brought to their lives. Further research is needed in this population to refine the theory and to examine cultural differences in the role. Instrument construction using reliable indicators could be developed to facilitate intervention studies