Use of antigen mimics to produce specific antibodies to anti-coccidial drugs

A range of polyclonal antibodies was successfully produced to the coccidiostatic drugs diclazuril and robenidine. Initial attempts to make immunogenic complexes of both drugs were ineffective due to difficulties encountered while trying to couple the compounds to large carrier proteins. Structural mimics, which could act as haptens for each drug, were sought and identified. The compounds identified were more open to chemical manipulation and were conjugated to carrier proteins to produce effective immunogens. The most sensitive antisera produced displayed IC(50)s of 1.5 ng/ml and 13 ng/ml for diclazuril and robenidine respectively. The antibody for diclazuril was shown to be specific, cross-reacting only with clazuril by 15%. The robenidine antibody displayed a low cross-reactivity of 1.2% to the compound used to produce the antibody. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

From the UV to the static-field limit: rates and scaling laws of intense-field ionization of helium

We present high-accuracy calculations of ionization rates of helium at UV (195 nm) wavelengths. The data are obtained from full-dimensionality integrations of the helium-laser time-dependent Schrödinger equation. Comparison is made with our previously obtained data at 390 nm and 780 nm. We show that scaling laws introduced by Parker et al extend unmodified from the near-infrared limit into the UV limit. Static-field ionization rates of helium are also obtained, again from time-dependent full-dimensionality integrations of the helium Schrödinger equation. We compare the static-field ionization results with those of Scrinzi et al and Themelis et al, who also treat the full-dimensional helium atom, but with time-independent methods. Good agreement is obtained.

National identification and anti-immigrant prejudice: Individual and contextual effects of national definitions

In this study, we examined the relationship between national identification and anti-immigrant prejudice in a multilevel analysis of ISSP survey data from 37,030 individuals in 31 countries. We argue that this relationship depends on how national groups are defined by their members. Across the 31 national samples, the correlation between national identification and prejudice ranged from weakly negative (-.06) to moderately positive (.37). The relationship was significantly stronger in countries where people on average endorsed a definition of national belonging based on language, and weaker where people on average defined the nation in terms of citizenship. These effects occurred at a national rather than individual level, supporting an explanation in terms of the construction of nationality that prevails in a given context. Endorsement of the ancestry-based criteria for nationality was positively associated with prejudice, but only at the individual level.

'Rule of Law and Politics of Anti-Corruption Campaigns in a Post-Authoritarian State- The Nigerian Case'

This article evaluates the anti-corruption campaign instituted in Nigeria following on the post-authoritarian transition in the country, with specific focus on political corruption. The anti-corruption campaign is being prosecuted within a context where law is as critical a factor as politics. This article examines whether the judiciary, in view of its accountability deficit, can offer legitimacy to the campaign. How has its questionable credentials impacted on its involvement in the campaign to sanitise public life? What has been the impact of the judicial role on the rule of law? These are some of the important questions this article seeks to answer. The inquiry in this article demonstrates how the guardian institution of the rule of law faces an uphill task in the performance of that role in a post-authoritarian context.