Publications

geographic and taxonomic distribution of a positive interaction: ant-tended homopterans indirectly benefit figs across southern africa.	although species pairs and assemblages often occur across geographic regions, ecologists know very little about the outcome of their interactions on such large spatial scales. here, we assess the geographic distribution and taxonomic diversity of a positive interaction involving ant-tended homopterans and fig trees in the genus ficus. previous experimental studies at a few locations in south africa indicated that ficus sur indirectly benefited from the presence of a homopteran (hilda patruelis) ...	1998	28308069
in vitro antiplasmodial activity of some plants used in kisii, kenya against malaria and their chloroquine potentiation effects.	fifty-five organic and aqueous extracts of 11 plants used in malaria therapy in kisii district, kenya were tested in vitro against chloroquine (cq)-sensitive and resistant strains of plasmodium falciparum. of the plants tested, 73% were active (ic(50) < 100 microg/ml). three plants, vernonia lasiopus, rhamnus prinoides and ficus sur afforded extracts with ic(50) values ranging less than 30 microg/ml against both cq-sensitive and resistant strains. combination of some extracts with cq against the ...	2003	12648820
antimalarial activity of methanolic extracts from plants used in kenyan ethnomedicine and their interactions with chloroquine (cq) against a cq-tolerant rodent parasite, in mice.	methanolic extracts from 15 medicinal plants representing 11 families, used traditionally for malaria treatment in kenya were screened for their in vivo antimalarial activity in mice against a chloroquine (cq)-tolerant plasmodium berghei nk65, either alone or in combination with cq. the plant parts used ranged from leaves (l), stem bark (sb), root bark (rb), seeds (s) and whole plant (w). when used alone, extracts from seven plants, clerodendrum myricoides (rb), ficus sur (l/sb/rb), maytenus acu ...	2007	17145149
mechanisms of anticonvulsant and sedative actions of the ethanolic stem-bark extract of ficus sur forssk (moraceae) in rodents.	ficus sur forssk (moraceae) is used in traditional african medicine in the treatment of epilepsy, pain and inflammations. anticonvulsant activity was investigated using picrotoxin (ptx), strychnine (scn), isoniazid (inz), pentylenetetrazole (ptz) and n-methyl-d-aspartic acid nmda models of convulsion. the phytochemical analysis of the extract revealed the presence of flavonoids, saponins, tannins, alkaloids and anthraquinone. oral administration of ficus sur, 1 h before intraperitoneal injection ...	2013	24511736
an analysis of the ruminal bacterial microbiota in west african dwarf sheep fed grass- and tree-based diets.	to measure the impact of supplementing a forage diet with tree-based browse on the ruminal bacterial communities of nigerian west african dwarf (wad) sheep.	2014	24447831
antimycobacterial, anti-inflammatory and genotoxicity evaluation of plants used for the treatment of tuberculosis and related symptoms in south africa.	emergence of drug-resistant tuberculosis strains and long duration of treatment has established an urgent need to search for new effective agents. the great floral diversity of south africa has potential for producing new bioactive compounds, therefore pharmacological screening of plant extracts within this region offers much potential. to assess the in vitro antimycobacterial, anti-inflammatory and genotoxicity activity of selected plants that are used for the treatment of tb and related sympto ...	2014	24576406
feed intake, digestibility, growth performance, and blood profile of pigs fed mixtures of dried and ground fig (ficus sur) fruits and graded levels of maize.	this study was conducted to examine the effect of feeding a mixture of different proportions of ficus sur fruits (fsf) and ground maize grain (mg) on intake, digestibility, growth, and blood profile on yorkshire pigs. dietary treatments comprised 100 % fsf and 0 % mg (100fsf), 67 % fsf and 33 % mg (67fsf), 33 % fsf and 67 % mg (33fsf), and 0 % fsf and 100 % mg (0fsf). noug cake and soybean meal were included to meet nutrient requirement of the animals at isonitrogenous (18 % crude protein (cp)) ...	2015	25487125
chilocoris capensis n. sp., the first species of the genus chilocoris mayr, 1865 (hemiptera: heteroptera: cydnidae) recorded in the republic of south africa with an annotated checklist of south african burrower bugs.	chilocoris capensis n. sp. collected from fallen ripe figs of broom cluster fig ficus sur forsskål, 1775, the first burrower bug species of the genus chilocoris mayr, 1865 recorded in the republic of south africa, is described and compared with chilocoris laevicollis horváth, 1919, the morphologically most closely allied afrotropical species. additionally, an annotated checklist of burrower bug species recorded in the republic of south africa is provided. the known biology of afrotropical chiloc ...	2016	27515635