A nested-PCR with an Internal Amplification Control for the detection and differentiation of Bartonella henselae and B. clarridgeiae: An examination of cats in Trinidad

BACKGROUND: Bartonella species are bacterial blood parasites of animals capable of causing disease in both animals and man. Cat-Scratch Disease (CSD) in humans is caused mainly by Bartonella henselae and is acquired from the cat, which serves as a reservoir for the bacteria. A second species, B. clarridgeiae is also implicated in the disease. Diagnosis of Bartonellosis by culture requires a week or more of incubation on enriched media containing blood, and recovery is often complicated by faster growing contaminating bacteria and fungi. PCR has been explored as an alternative to culture for both the detection and species identification of Bartonella, however sensitivity problems have been reported and false negative reactions due to blood inhibitors have not generally been addressed in test design. METHODS: A novel, nested-PCR was designed for the detection of Bartonella henselae and B. clarridgeiae based on the strategy of targeting species-specific size differences in the 16S-23S rDNA intergenic regions. An Internal Amplification Control was used for detecting PCR inhibition. The nested-PCR was utilized in a study on 103 blood samples from pet and stray cats in Trinidad. RESULTS: None of the samples were positive by primary PCR, but the Nested-PCR detected Bartonella in 32/103 (31%) cats where 16 were infected with only B. henselae, 13 with only B. clarridgeiae and 3 with both species. Of 22 stray cats housed at an animal shelter, 13 (59%) were positive for either or both species, supporting the reported increased incidence of Bartonella among feral cats. CONCLUSION: The usefulness of a single PCR for the detection of Bartonella henselae and B. clarridgeiae in the blood of cats is questionable. A nested-PCR offers increased sensitivity over a primary PCR and should be evaluated with currently used methods for the routine detection and speciation of Bartonella henselae and B. clarridgeiae. In Trinidad, B. henselae and B. clarridgeiae are the predominant species in cats and infection appears highest with stray cats, however B. clarridgeiae may be present at levels similar to that of B. henselae in the pet population

The motivations for the adoption of management innovation by local governments and its performance effects

This article analyses the economic, political and institutional antecedents and performance effects of the adoption of shared Senior Management Teams (SMTs) – a management innovation (MI) that occurs when a team of senior managers oversees two or more public organizations. Findings from statistical analysis of 201 English local governments and interviews with organizational leaders reveal that shared SMTs are adopted to develop organisational capacity in resource‐challenged, politically risk‐averse governments, and in response to coercive and mimetic institutional pressures. Importantly, sharing SMTs may reduce rather than enhance efficiency and effectiveness due to redundancy costs and the political transaction costs associated with diverting resources away from a high‐performing partner to support their lower‐performing counterpart

Municipal productivity in high-quality service cities /

In this study, the topic of municipal productivity is taken from its broadest definitional aspects to the identification of specific factors statistically associated with relative productivity in a narrow stratum of United States cities. The examination of a single stratum of cities, defined by the scope and quality of municipal services, provides a means of controlling the scope and quality of service variables from the outset and avoiding their confounding effects in the analysis of the impact of administrative and extra-administrative factors on municipal productivity.Organizational and community characteristics of the study cities were examined and correlated with the Relative Productivity Index. Several factors were found to have zero-order Pearson product moment correlations with the index, but upon closer examination only two characteristics were found to be strongly correlated with relative productivity (both positively) when other factors were controlled. Those characteristics--one financial and one managerial--were the ratio of property and sales tax revenues to total general revenues and the extent to which the use of control data (e.g., accounting reports, productivity records, etc.) for self-guidance and group problem solving, rather than for punishment, was emphasized or perceived as a relative strength of the organization.In order to assess relative productivity among fourteen high-quality full service cities, a Relative Productivity Index was developed by means of statistical regression, using municipal expenditures for selected functions as the dependent variable and a salary index and variations of city population as the independent variables. The Relative Productivity Index provides a measure of each city's actual expenditure deviation from its regression-based projected expenditure. High relative productivity is attributed to those cities spending less than the projected amount, and low relative productivity is attributed to those spending more than the projection