BACKGROUND Androgen deficiency is a clinical syndrome resulting from the inability of the testes to produce physiological levels of testosterone due to a disturbance occurring at one or more levels of the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the androgenic properties of aqueous and methanolic extracts of Ficus asperifolia on normal and castrated i...

Ganoderma colossum is a rare species of Ganodermataceae family with many biological and biochemical properties. It is associated with rot, wilt, dieback, and wood decay of many host plants such as Ficus carcica, Celtis laevigata, Pinus hondurensis, Callitris robusta, Eucalyptus citrodora, E. paniculata, E. puncata, and Phoenix canariensis. In Oman, this pathogen was isolated as new records from...

Medicinal plants are the wealthy source of antibacterial agents and curatives. There is an urgent need for new antimicrobial agents, so the antimicrobial activity for Ruta graveolens L. and Ficus carica Linn. Crude extracts were evaluated for its inhibitory activity against some disease causing selected microorganisms. Root extract of Ruta graveolens L gave 8 and 7 mm inhibition zone against Es...

Hieracium sinoaestivum Sennikov sp. nov. is described as new to science and illustrated. This presumably apomictic species is solely known from two old collections made in a single locality in the Shanxi Province of China. It belongs to the hybridogenous group Hieracium sect. Aestiva (Hieracium sect. Prenanthoidea × Hieracium sect. Umbellata) and is most similar to Hieracium veresczaginii from ...

A previous study on the leaf resin composition of some Baccharis species revealed that the resinous material consists mostly of terpenoids, in which more or less lipophilic flavonoid aglycones are dissolved [1]. In B. salicifolia, a major terpenoid was found to be the rare triterpene maniladiol [2]. The major flavonoids were penduletin (6 -hydroxykaempferol3,6 ,7-trimethyl ether) and pinocembri...

This introductory chapter is mainly addressed to readers new to the field. In Sect. 1.1 a brief review of the historical roots of the current research is given. Section 1.2 describes various spin interactions. Section 1.3 is a mini text-book on semiconductor physics designed for beginners. A short overview of spin phenomena in semiconductors is given in Sect. 1.4. Finally, Sect. 1.5 presents th...

Rubus L. is a large and taxonomically complex genus, species of which exhibit apomixis, polyploidy, and frequent hybridization. Most of Chinese Rubus are assigned in two major sections, Idaeobatus and Malachobatus. To explore the phylogenetic relationships within Chinese Rubus, inferences upon three chloroplast DNA (rbcL, rpl20-rps12, and trnG-trnS), nuclear ribosomal ITS, and two low-copy nucl...

The antioxidant effect of aqueous extract of the bark of FB has been evaluated in hypercholesterolaemic rabbits. The water extracts of the bark of Ficus benghalensis at a dose of 50 mg/kg body weight per day in addition to cholesterol suspended in oil. There results show that the water extract of the bark of Ficus benghalensis has significant antioxidant effect, in addition to hypolipidaemic ef...