A survey of dairy goat kid-rearing practices on Canadian farms and their associations with self-reported farm performance.

Although future production of dairy goats is influenced by kid-rearing practices, little is known regarding which practices maximize kid growth, welfare, and future production success. The objectives of this survey study were to (1) identify common rearing practices of Canadian commercial dairy goat farms and evaluate their associations with 6 farm performance indicators and (2) determine if farms could be grouped by management style on the basis of the 6 performance indicators and compare rearing practices common across the different groups. A survey was sent by post or electronic media to reach dairy goat producers across Canada. The questionnaire contained 70 questions on the following areas of kid rearing: kidding management, care of newborn, colostrum management, milk and solid feeding in the preweaning period, health management, disbudding, housing conditions, weaning strategies, record keeping and growth monitoring, and farm performance data. Performance indicators, calculated on self-reported data, were 305-d milk production, preweaning mortality rate, diarrhea and respiratory disease prevalence, average daily gain from birth to weaning, herd milk production, and replacement rate. A total of 175 questionnaires were returned. After applying inclusion criteria, including herd size (≥40 goats) and completeness of surveys, 104 respondents from Ontario (n = 72, 69%), Québec (n = 23, 22%), and the Western provinces (n = 9, 9%) were retained for analysis, representing 29% of all Canadian producers. Farm sizes ranged from 42 to 2,500 (median = 190) goats. A large amount of variation in rearing practices and farm performance was found between farms. Colostrum and milk feeding management were found to be associated with all performance indicators except for kid respiratory disease prevalence, with timing of colostrum delivery and feeding method accounting for most the associations within each of the 2 areas. Replacement rate was mostly affected by whether or not kids were reared with their dam. Herds surveyed in the study could successfully be divided into 3 distinct groups (production-focused, longevity-focused, and low performance), representing different management styles on the basis of farm self-reported performance levels. Rearing practices found to be associated with higher farm performance could be targeted by advisory services to help improve management practices on Canadian dairy goat farms.

Luxibacter massiliensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a new bacterium isolated from the human gut microbiota.

An anaerobic facultative Gram-stain positive bacterium was isolated from human gut microbiota. Strain Marseille-P5551T was considered to be a new genus within the phylum Firmicutes, as it exhibits a 91.87% similarity level with Faecalicatena orotica (NR_117129.1), the phylogenetically closest related species. The draft genome size of strain Marseille-P5551T is 4 142 938 bp with 44.4% of G + C content. We hereby suggest the creation of Luxibacter massiliensis gen. nov., sp. nov., as a new bacterial genus.

Graduate Student Literature Review: Current recommendations and scientific knowledge on dairy goat kid rearing practices in intensive production systems in Canada, the United States, and France.

Dairy goat kid rearing is the foundation of future milk production, yet little is known on this topic. References available to producers are limited, making it more difficult for dairy goat farms to reach their full production potential. This review paper aimed to identify the current recommendations on dairy goat kid rearing practices for intensive production systems and to assess whether the different recommendations were based on scientific literature. Recommendations on dairy goat kid rearing practices, from birth to weaning inclusively, were presented and compared between countries under similar intensive production systems, including Canada, the United States, and France. The different areas of rearing investigated included kidding management, colostrum management, liquid and solid feeding, health management, disbudding, housing, weaning, and growth monitoring. Gaps in the literature were identified in all areas except for disbudding. More research on the topic of goat kid raising practices would be beneficial to refine and validate current recommendations.

Parabacteroides pacaensis sp. nov. and Parabacteroides provencensis sp. nov., two new species identified from human gut microbiota.

Strains Marseille-P4001 and Marseille-P3668 are new species from the order Bacteroidales isolated from healthy French volunteers. They are anaerobic Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria. They exhibited 92.68% and 96.68% 16S rRNA sequence identities with Parabacteroides gordonii strain MS-1 and Parabacteroides chinchillae JCM 17104, respectively, the phylogenetically closest species. Their respective draft genomes measured 5.23 Mb and 3.73 Mb with 39.2 mol% and 40.8 mol% of G + C content. Using a taxonogenomics method, we propose here a brief description of Parabacteroides pacaensis sp. nov., strain Marseille-P4001T and Parabacteroides provencensis sp. nov., strain Marseille-P3668T as new bacterial species.

Corynebacterium pacaense sp. nov., Alistipes megaguti sp. nov., Alistipes provencensis sp. nov., 3 new bacteria isolated from fresh human stool specimens.

Here we describe the basic characteristics of Corynebacterium pacaense strain Marseille-P2417T (= CSUR P2417), Alistipes megaguti strain Marseille-P5997T (= CSUR P5997) and Alistipes provencensis strain Marseille-P2431T (= CSUR P2431 = DSM 102308). The phenotypic criteria, the 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing and MALDI-TOF MS spectra analysis were used to identify and characterize these new bacteria species, which were isolated from fresh human stool specimens.

Dorea phocaeensis sp. nov., a new bacterium isolated from the stool of a healthy 29-year-old male.

Dorea phocaeensis strain Marseille-P4003T (= CSURP4003T; = CCUG71359T) is a new species isolated from the stool of a healthy 29-year-old male from France.

Parabacteroides massiliensis sp. nov., a new bacterium isolated from a fresh human stool specimen.

Parabacteroides massiliensis sp. nov., strain Marseille-P2231T (= CSURP2231 = DSM 101860) is a new species within the family Tannerellaceae. It was isolated from a stool specimen of a 25-year-old healthy woman. Its genome was 5 013 798 bp long with a 45.7 mol% G+C content. The closest species based on 16S rRNA sequence was Parabacteroides merdae strain JCM 9497T with 98.19% sequence similarity. Considering phenotypic features and comparative genome studies, we proposed the strain Marseille-P2231T as the type strain of Parabacteroides massiliensis sp. nov., a new species within the genus Parabacteroides.

Attitudes toward genetic testing for thrombophilia in asymptomatic members of a large family with heritable protein C deficiency.

BACKGROUND: Little research has been performed regarding the psychological consequences of knowing that one is at an increased risk for venous thrombosis. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to explore attitudes toward genetic testing for protein C deficiency. METHODS: Questionnaires about genetic testing attitudes, dispositional anxiety, risk perception, and thrombosis-related worry were completed by 168 asymptomatic members of a North-American kindred with a high incidence of heritable protein C deficiency conferring a high lifetime risk of venous thrombosis. A total of 76 subjects (45%) had not been tested for protein C deficiency before participating in our study whereas the other 92 subjects (55%) had been tested prior to filling in the questionnaire, of whom 34 people had protein C deficiency, while 58 did not. RESULTS: Family members with protein C deficiency perceived a higher risk of suffering venous thrombosis and scored higher on thrombosis-related worry than family members without protein C deficiency. Participants who had not been tested did not report excessive thrombosis-related worry. Participants with protein C deficiency reported a belief in the psychological and health benefits of testing, and felt that they experienced low psychological distress following the genetic test. High psychological distress following the test was related to dispositional anxiety and thrombosis-related worry. Participants without protein C deficiency were relieved after finding out that they did not have the deficiency. CONCLUSION: There seem to be few negative psychological consequences of knowing that one is at an increased risk for venous thrombosis, except in vulnerable individuals.

Chronic venous abnormalities in symptomatic and asymptomatic protein C deficiency.

BACKGROUND: Thrombophilia is a frequent medical condition associated with symptomatic deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Unlike other clinical risk factors associated with DVT, such as surgery, thrombophilia has not been demonstrated to be associated with asymptomatic venous thrombotic events. Our aim was to search for asymptomatic sequelae of DVT in a protein C (PC)-deficient family. METHODS: We studied 228 individuals from a large kindred with PC deficiency and performed a systematic ultrasound examination. RESULTS: Among the 203 patients without a known history of venous thrombosis we found seven patients with abnormalities indicative of prior asymptomatic thrombosis: six (7.4%) in the PC-deficient group (n = 81) and only one (0.8%) in the non-deficient group (n = 122). The relative risk for these sequelae associated with PC deficiency was 9.0 (95% CI: 1.1-73.7). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that chronic venous abnormalities are frequently present and that thrombotic events in asymptomatic individuals with familial PC deficiency may be underestimated.