Press Review 2006-2012

11.12.2012 - CORDIS News
International research team using marine organisms to combat osteoporosis

The EU has launched a large-scale integrated project called 'BlueGenics' to combat osteoporosis. The project aims to discover the genetic blueprints for new drugs from marine organisms that could help to prevent and to treat major human diseases such as osteoporosis. The European research project BlueGenics has received funding of EUR 6 million from the European Commission with the aim of searching for substances from the deep sea to combat osteoporosis and other human common diseases. With an international research team, coordinated by Professor Dr Werner E.G. Müller from the Institute of Physiological Chemistry of the Mainz University Medical Center, the intention is to identify and to utilise genetic blueprints from marine organisms. This will include deep-sea sponges and bacteria, for the production of biomedically relevant substances. This will allow the research team sustainable use of marine resources without having a negative impact on biodiversity. ...

10.12.2012 - News-Medical.Net [Australia]
BlueGenics aims to discover new drugs from deep sea to combat osteoporosis

Searching for substances from the deep sea to combat osteoporosis and other human common diseases is one of the objectives of the new European research project "BlueGenics" which has received funding of EUR 6 million from the European Commission. Specifically, the international research team, coordinated by Professor Dr. Werner E.G. M-ller from the Institute of Physiological Chemistry of the Mainz University Medical Center, intends to identify and to utilize genetic blueprints from marine organisms, including deep-sea sponges and bacteria, for the production of biomedically relevant substances. The novel research approach provided by this research team will allow the sustainable use of marine resources without negative impact on biodiversity. ...

05.12.2012 - News-Medical.Net [Australia]
Mainz University neuroscientist professor receives ERC Advanced Grant

The European Research Council (ERC) has earmarked some EUR 2.5 million to fund research being conducted by neuroscientist Professor Dr. Robert Nitsch at the Mainz University Medical Center. His work focuses on the role played by so-called bioactive lipids in the brain that assumingly impair signal transmission at cerebral synapses, which act as 'switching stations' in the brain. Disturbances of this kind to cerebral network homeostasis, i.e., in the balance between inhibition and excitation in the brain, occur for example in people with mental illnesses and epilepsy. ...

04.12.2012 - MedicalXpress
Biologists achieve repair and read-through of stop mutations responsible for Usher syndrome

After years of basic research, scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) are increasingly able to understand the mechanisms underlying the human Usher syndrome and are coming ever closer to finding a successful treatment approach. The scientists in the Usher research group of Professor Dr. Uwe Wolfrum are evaluating two different strategies. These involve either the repair of mutated genes or the deactivation of the genetic defects using agents. Based on results obtained to date, both options seem promising. Usher syndrome is a congenital disorder that causes the loss of both hearing and vision. ...

29.11.2012 - News-Medical.Net [Australia]
Yale and Mainz University Medical Center to extend collaboration

The University Medical Center at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany and the renowned School of Medicine at Yale University, USA have agreed upon a future collaboration. This strategic partnership promises to provide an innovative stimulus for the Research Unit Translational Neurosciences at the Mainz University Medical Center. The resulting regular exchange will benefit both basic research and the training of young researchers. ...

28.11.2012 - Bio-Medicine
Mainz University Medical Center agrees partnership with Yale University

The University Medical Center at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany and the renowned School of Medicine at Yale University, USA have agreed upon a future collaboration. This strategic partnership promises to provide an innovative stimulus for the Research Unit Translational Neurosciences at the Mainz University Medical Center. The resulting regular exchange will benefit both basic research and the training of young researchers. ...

28.11.2012 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
DFG funds new Collaborative Research Center at the Mainz University Medical Center

On January 1, 2013, the German Research Foundation (DFG) will establish a new Collaborative Research Center (CRC) at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). The research team of scientists from Mainz and Frankfurt, coordinated by Professor Dr. Robert Nitsch, Director of the Institute of Microscopic Anatomy and Neurobiology at the Mainz University Medical Center, has been awarded funding of approximately EUR 9.3 million for an initial period of four years. The purpose of the CRC is to study the molecular and cellular interactions that enable the brain to maintain a balanced functional state in the form of network homeostasis. By gaining a more in-depth understanding of these mechanisms, the scientists involved also hope to provide new insights into disease processes in the brain, so that it becomes possible in the long term to develop new treatment options. ...

27.11.2012 - Nanowerk
Scientists develop new methods for cooling of ions

Among the most important techniques developed in atomic physics over the past few years are methods that enable the storage and cooling of atoms and ions at temperatures just above absolute zero. Scientists from Bangalore and Mainz have now demonstrated in an experiment that captured ions can also be cooled through contact with cold atoms and may thus be stored in so-called ion traps in a stable condition for longer periods of time. This finding runs counter to predictions that ions would actually be heated through collisions with atoms. The results obtained by the joint Indo-German research project open up the possibility of conducting future chemical experiments to generate molecular ions at temperatures as low as those that prevail in interstellar space. ...

27.11.2012 - NEWS TRACK India [India]
Bangalore scientists develop new methods for cooling of ions

Scientists from Bangalore and Mainz have demonstrated in an experiment that captured ions can also be cooled through contact with cold atoms and may thus be stored in so-called ion traps in a stable condition for longer periods of time. ...

20.11.2012 - Science Daily
Scientists Identify Inhibitor of Myelin Formation in Central Nervous System

Scientists at the Mainz University Medical Center have discovered another molecule that plays an important role in regulating myelin formation in the central nervous system. Myelin promotes the conduction of nerve cell impulses by forming a sheath around their projections, the so-called axons, at specific locations – acting like the plastic insulation around a power cord. ...

09.11.2012 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
On the hunt for dark matter

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany inaugurated its "Precision Physics, Fundamental Interactions and Structure of Matter" (PRISMA) Cluster of Excellence. About 250 scientists have now officially begun their work in the new research association, which was approved in the most recent phase of the German Excellence Initiative by the German federal and state governments. Over the next five years, the cluster will be funded with about EUR 35 million from the German government, the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz for top-level research into particle and hadron physics. Mainz has thus established itself as the center for particle and hadron physics in Germany and the world. ...

07.11.2012 - MedicalXpress
Development of measures to prevent wine indispositions

Biogenic amines may be one of the factors responsible for symptoms such as headaches, gastro-intestinal disorders, shortness of breath, fall in blood pressure, and even unconsciousness and cardiac arrhythmia in severe cases. Histamine, one of the best known members of this group, can cause serious physical problems. Biogenic amines can be produced in the body by natural metabolic activities but are also ingested in larger quantities with food. They play a special role in microbiologically produced food such as wine, beer, cheese, and sauerkraut. In a joint project Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Dienstleistungszentrum Ländlicher Raum Rheinpfalz (DLR) have developed measures to identify and reduce biogenic amines in wine, where they can be of particular risk to human well-being. ...

05.10.2012 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Study shows that organic aerosols aging caused by OH radicals

Atmospheric aerosol particles have a significant effect on climate. An international team of researchers has now discovered that a chemical process in the atmosphere called aging determines to a major extent the concentration and the characteristics of aerosol particles. To date, this aspect has not been accounted for in regional and global climate models. In the Muchachas [Multiple Chamber Aerosol Chemical Aging Experiments] project, the team has not only managed to demonstrate the effects of aging but has also been able to measure these. Their findings have been published in the specialist journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). ...

03.10.2012 - News-Medical.Net [Australia]
DFG-funded project to research into complex regional pain syndrome

German Research Foundation funds a three-year joint project of the Mainz University Medical Center and the University of Münster to the tune of about EUR 460,000. ...

26.09.2012 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Slave rebellion widespread in ants

Ant researcher Professor Dr. Susanne Foitzik of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany first observed this "slave rebellion" phenomenon in 2009. According to the latest findings, however, this behavior now appears to be a widespread characteristic that is not limited to isolated occurrences. In fact, in three different populations in the U.S. states of West Virginia, New York, and Ohio, enslaved Temnothorax longispinosus workers have been observed to neglect and kill the offspring of their Protomognathus americanus slavemakers rather than care for them. As a result, an average of only 45 percent of the parasite's offspring survived. This presumably reduces the strength of the parasites in the area and thereby increases the chances of survival for the neighboring colonies populated by the slave ants' relatives. ...

26.09.2012 - Science Daily
Slave Rebellion Is Widespread in Ants

Enslaved worker ants kill the offspring of their parasites and thereby improve the chances of survival for their neighboring relatives. Ants that are held as slaves in nests of other ant species damage their oppressors through acts of sabotage. Ant researcher Professor Dr. Susanne Foitzik of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany first observed this "slave rebellion" phenomenon in 2009. According to the latest findings, however, this behavior now appears to be a widespread characteristic that is not limited to isolated occurrences. ...

21.09.2012 - Science
Sick Ants Don't Compromise the Whole Nest

A particularly bad flu season can empty schools, clear out offices, and cripple productivity. But when ants are infected with tapeworms, for example – their nests, surprisingly, keep humming along. The tiny ant Temnothorax nylanderi lives in groups of up to 200 in acorns and sticks in European forests. Parasite eggs likely enter the nest via woodpecker feces, which the ants collect and feed to their young. The young become infected by consuming the eggs with the feces and wind up petite and yellow – instead of brown – as adults (see picture). Researchers have found that up to a third of T. nylanderi's nests are infected, and they expected to see a corresponding productivity decline in those nests. ...

21.09.2012 - Asia Times Online [China]
On Syria and way beyond

One of Europe's most outstanding experts on the Middle East, Professor Guenter Meyer, addresses in this exclusive in-depth interview for Asia Times Online the Syrian civil war and its international dimensions. Professor Dr Guenter Meyer has for almost 40 years carried out empirical research on the social, economic and political development in Arab countries and has published more than 150 books and articles, especially on Syria, Egypt, Yemen and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. He directs the Center for Research on the Arab World at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, which is one of the world's leading information centers for the dissemination of news and research on the Middle East. Professor Meyer is chairman of the German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO), president of the European Association for Middle Eastern Studies (EURAMES), and chairman of the International Advisory Council of the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES). ...

19.09.2012 - Science Illustrated [Australia]
Ancient Roman fortification discovered in Germany

In the late 50s BC the Treveri, a local tribe who lived in the mountainous regions between the Rhine and Maas rivers, were split into pro- and anti-Roman factions, according to Julius Caesar's Commentarri de Bello Gallico. The anti-Roman faction, led by Indutiomarus and his relatives, caused civil unrest that resulted in the Roman reprisals of 54/53 and 51 BC.There may now be archaeological evidence for this dramatic episode in history - scientists from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany confirmed the location of the oldest Roman military fortification ever found in that country. Located near Hermeskeil, the encampment was built in the late 50s BC, during the Gallic Wars. ...

14.09.2012 - LiveScience
Discovery: Ancient Fort Aided Julius Caesar's Conquest of Gaul

Archaeologists say they've identified the oldest known Roman military fortress in Germany, likely built to house thousands of troops during Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul in the late 50s B.C. Broken bits of Roman soldiers' sandals helped lead to the discovery. Researchers knew about the large site - close to the German town of Hermeskeil, near the French border - since the 19th century but lacked solid evidence about what it was. Parts of the fort also had been covered up or destroyed by agricultural development. "Some remains of the wall are still preserved in the forest, but it hadn't been possible to prove that this was indeed a Roman military camp as archaeologists and local historians had long suspected," researcher Sabine Hornung, of Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (JGU), said in a statement. ...

14.09.2012 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Roman military camp dating back to conquest of Gaul throws light on part of world history

In the vicinity of Hermeskeil, a small town some 30 kilometers southeast of the city of Trier in the Hunsrueck region in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, archaeologists from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have confirmed the location of the oldest Roman military fortification known in Germany to date. ...

14.09.2012 - Sci-News.com
Archaeologists Discover Germany’s Oldest Roman Military Camp

An archaeological team from the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz has discovered the precise location of the oldest Roman military fortification known to date in Germany – in the vicinity of Hermeskeil, a small town some 30 km southeast of Trier in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ...

14.09.2012 - The Wall Street Journal [USA]
What If Germany’s Highest Court Views ECB Bond Buys Illegal?

Germany's top court may have approved the creation of the euro-zone's anti-crisis firewall Wednesday but the threat that Germany may yet tear it down hasn’t gone away for good. [...] "The question is whether or not the ECB’s actions conform with its mandate," said Professor Hanno Kube, an expert for European and Finance law at the university of Mainz. "If the court were to find that the ECB was acting 'ultra vires' or outside its mandate, then the ECB’s actions would go against E.U. law and they would no longer have a binding effect in Germany. In that respect, the Bundesbank, which is part of the ECB, would also be overstepping its competences," Mr. Kube said. ...

10.09.2012 - NBCNEWS.com [USA]
Unearthed scarab proves Egyptians were in Tel Aviv

Researchers find entry fortification in ancient Jaffa was destroyed, rebuilt at least 4 times ...

10.09.2012 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Excavations in Jaffa confirm presence of Egyptian settlement on the ancient city site

The Old Testament Studies and Biblical Archaeology division of the Faculty of Protestant Theology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) this year again conducted excavations on the ancient hill of Jaffa in Israel. The recent excavations have not only shed new light on the destruction of elements of the fortification, but also unearthed evidence pointing towards the presence of an Egyptian population on the site. ...

07.09.2012 - International Business Times
Non-Alcoholic Red Wine Found to Reduce High Blood Pressure

Men who have high risk for heart disease can lower their blood pressure by just consuming some amount of non-alcoholic red wine every day, researchers from the University of Alabama and the Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center have found. They found that non-alcoholic red wine increases nitric oxide, which helps reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure among cardiac patients. ...

23.08.2012 - American Geophysical Union [USA]
Link found between cold European winters and solar activity

Scientists have long suspected that the Sun's 11-year cycle influences climate of certain regions on Earth. Yet records of average, seasonal temperatures do not date back far enough to confirm any patterns. Now, armed with a unique proxy, an international team of researchers show that unusually cold winters in Central Europe are related to low solar activity - when sunspot numbers are minimal. The freezing of Germany’s largest river, the Rhine, is the key. Although the Earth's surface overall continues to warm, the new analysis has revealed a correlation between periods of low activity of the Sun and of some cooling - on a limited, regional scale in Central Europe, along the Rhine. "The advantage with studying the Rhine is because it's a very simple measurement," said Frank Sirocko lead author of a paper on the study and professor of Sedimentology and Paleoclimatology at the Institute of Geosciences of Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. "Freezing is special in that it’s like an on-off mode. Either there is ice or there is no ice." ...

19.08.2012 - The Hindu [India]
This business of hosting Olympics

The experience of Athens and Beijing does not support the view that the London Games will lead to long-term economic spin-offs. [...] The way the costs are divided between the different parties is meant to ensure the bulk of what is paid by a nation such as infrastructure, are investments that will deliver returns over the next few decades - whether through the creation of jobs for domestic suppliers and infrastructure firms, better transport links, boosts to tourism and so on, says HolgerPreuss, a professor of Sports Economics at the Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz, Germany. ...

17.08.2012 - The Scotsman
Scientists’ cell find brings hope of new MS treatment

Immune cells once believed to have caused multiple sclerosis can actually protect people against it, experts have discovered. The findings offers hope of new treatments for the illness which is suffered by one in 500 people living in Scotland. Previous studies have found a type of immune cell, dendritic cells, contributed to the development of the disease. But a new study has found transfusing these cells into the blood can actually protect someone against MS. Researchers behind the study say the same method could also treat other autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis and bowel conditions. Dr Ari Waisman, of Germany's Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, said the findings could "change our fundamental understanding of the origins of multiple sclerosis" and lead to new treatments for the disease. ...

16.08.2012 - MedicalXpress
Discovery of immune cells that protect against multiple sclerosis offers hope for new treatment

In multiple sclerosis, the immune system attacks nerves in the brain and spinal cord, causing movement problems, muscle weakness and loss of vision. Immune cells called dendritic cells, which were previously thought to contribute to the onset and development of multiple sclerosis, actually protect against the disease in a mouse model, according to a study published by Cell Press in the August issue of the journal Immunity. These new insights change our fundamental understanding of the origins of multiple sclerosis and could lead to the development of more effective treatments for the disease. "By transfusing dendritic cells into the blood, it may be possible to reduce autoimmunity," says senior study author Ari Waisman of University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. "Beyond multiple sclerosis, I can easily imagine that this approach could be applied to other autoimmune diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis. ...

14.08.2012 - MedicalXpress
When do German children gain weight?

Scientists working with Professor Dr. Dr. Perikles Simon, head of the Sports Medicine division of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany, suggest in the light of recent analyses that German children gain weight soon after entering elementary school. ...

14.08.2012 - Deutsche Welle
Egypt: Morsi grabs power from the military

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has dismissed two of the country's military leaders. But this does not mean confrontation with the army is inevitable. [...] Morsi could well have coordinated the move with other military groups, Günter Meyer, director of the Center for the Study of the Arab World at the University of Mainz, said. ...

27.07.2012 - MedicalXpress
Low-dose duloxetine deemed safe for urinary incontinence

Duloxetine appears safe for the routine clinical care of women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI), according to a study published online July 23 in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. Martin C. Michel, M.D., from the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, and colleagues conducted an observational study involving 6,854 patients seen by urologists and gynecologists and 5,879 patients seen by primary care physicians; all patients were newly started on treatment for moderate-to-severe symptoms of stress urinary incontinence. Study participants were treated in a parallel 12-week (urologist and gynecologist patients) or 24-week (primary care physician) design and received duloxetine or other conservative treatment. ...

26.07.2012 - www.news.com.au (Australia)
Don't be a dope

Simply popping a pill, studying all night and then passing an examination with flying colours is the dream of university students who are stressed out of their minds. [...] In a representative survey by a team of researchers led by Klaus Lieb, director of the Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Clinic at Mainz University Medical Centre in Germany, about four per cent of the 1547 secondary-school and university students polled said they had tried at least once to increase their concentration, alertness or wakefulness with the help of legal or illegal substances. ...

20.07.2012 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
XENON100 sets record limits for dark matter

Scientists from the XENON collaboration announced a new result from their search for dark matter. The analysis of data taken with the XENON100 detector during 13 months of operation at the Gran Sasso Laboratory (Italy) provided no evidence for the existence of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), the leading dark matter candidates. Two events being observed are statistically consistent with one expected event from background radiation. Compared to their previous 2011 result the world-leading sensitivity has again been improved by a factor of 3.5. This constrains models of new physics with WIMP candidates even further and it helps to target future WIMP searches. A paper with the results is going to be submitted to Physical Review Letters and on the arXiv. ...

14.07.2012 - RT [Russia]
UN meetings and Syrian massacres: Timing is everything

The Syrian government and the rebels blame each other for an alleged massacre in the village of Tremseh. As with the previous mass murder news in Syria, reports of the bloodshed appear just in time of a crucial point in foreign diplomacy over Syria. [...] A Middle East expert from the University of Mainz, Dr. Guenter Meyer, is even more direct in his assessment of the latest developments. He says the rebels are trying to drum up support for their cause. ...

13.07.2012 - www.research-in-germany.de
Physicists in Mainz and all around the world cheer the discovery of the Higgs particle

Success at the world's largest particle accelerator LHC / Experiments involving scientists from Mainz University show first direct evidence of the Higgs boson ...

13.07.2012 - CHEM_EUROPE.COM
Inspired by nature: Paints and coatings containing bactericidal agent nanoparticles combat marine fouling

Vanadium pentoxide nanoparticles mimic natural enzymes and inhibit surface build-up of algae and bacteria ...

13.07.2012 - Nigerian Tribune
When wine makes you sneeze, develop headache

Wine isn’t always the way to ensure a healthy heart, at least for everybody. Experts say that some individuals who take wine, because of their intolerance experience symptoms such as runny nose, headache, cold symptoms, itchy rashes, all akin to allergy [...] Recognising there have been few case reports of wine intolerance or wine allergy, researchers from Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in Germany set out to study the prevalence of wine intolerance among a single region’s adult population. ...

10.07.2012 - New Scientist
Tree rings suggest Roman world was warmer than thought

How did the Romans manage to grow grapes in northern England when most climate studies suggest the weather was much cooler then? We may now have an answer: it wasn't that cold at all. Long-term temperature reconstructions often rely on the width of tree rings: they assume that warmer summers make for wider rings. Using this measure, it seems that global temperatures changed very little over the past two millennia. [...] Jan Esper of Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, thinks that at least some of those tree rings actually show something else: a long-term cooling trend that lasted right up until the Industrial Revolution. ...

10.07.2012 - Bio-Medicine
Scientists at the Mainz University Medical Center gain new insights into Taspase1 function

Scientists at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany identified a novel strategy to target the oncologically relevant protein-cleaving enzyme Taspase1. ...

10.07.2012 - News-Medical.Net [Australia]
Scientists identify novel strategy to target Taspase1 enzyme

Scientists at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany identified a novel strategy to target the oncologically relevant protein-cleaving enzyme Taspase1. ...

09.07.2012 - The Huffington Post [USA]
Wine Intolerance May Be Experienced By 7 Percent Of Adults, Study Suggests

We've all heard about the heart-healthy perks of enjoying red wine in moderation. But a certain segment of the population might not be able to reap those benefits -- according to new research, about 7 percent of people might actually have a physical intolerance to alcohol. A new study in the German peer-reviewed science journal Deutsches Arzteblatt International shows that "wine intolerance" may affect 8.9 percent of women and 5.2 percent of men. To conduct the study, German researchers from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz sent out questionnaires to 4,000 people between ages 20 and 69. Of those people, 948 responded. ...

09.07.2012 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Climate in northern Europe reconstructed for the past 2,000 years

An international team that includes scientists from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has published a reconstruction of the climate in northern Europe over the last 2,000 years based on the information provided by tree-rings. ...

09.07.2012 - United Press International (UPI)
2,000 years of European climate studied

A reconstruction of 2,000 years of European climate, using tree rings as a measuring tool, shows a trend for 2 millennia of climatic cooling, researchers say. An international team including scientists from Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, analyzed annual growth rings in trees as important witnesses during the past 1,000 to 2,000 years to how warm and cool past climate conditions were. ...

08.07.2012 - University World News
Student use of stimulants for cognitive enhancement

Pharmacological cognitive enhancement is a topic of increasing public awareness, according to German researchers ...

06.07.2012 - NANO Magazine
Bactericidal nanoparticles combat marine fouling

Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany have discovered that tiny vanadium pentoxide nanoparticles can inhibit the growth of barnacles, bacteria, and algae on surfaces in contact with water, such as ship hulls, sea buoys, or offshore platforms. ...

05.07.2012 - United Press International (UPI)
Study: 7 percent wine intolerant

About 7 percent of adults suffer from an intolerance to wine, researchers in Germany found. The researchers at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz said wine is an ancient food across cultures all over the world, and its effects on health have been extensively studied -- but only a few case reports of wine intolerance or wine allergy have been reported. ...

03.07.2012 - AZoNano - The A to Z of Nanotechnology [Australia / UK]
Scientists Look to Nature to Solve Marine Fouling with Vanadium Pentoxide Nanoparticles

About 200 billion dollars per year is the cost incurred by the shipping industry due to the marine fouling problem. Organisms such as mussels, algae, and barnacles, accumulate on the ship's surface over time and increase the surface's water resistance, thereby increasing fuel consumption and extra CO2 emissions. Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have found a feasible solution in tiny vanadium pentoxide nanoparticles, which they claim can prevent the growth of organisms on surfaces in contact with water, such as ship hulls, offshore platforms, and sea buoys. ...

02.07.2012 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Paints and coatings containing bactericidal agent nanoparticles combat marine fouling

Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany have discovered that tiny vanadium pentoxide nanoparticles can inhibit the growth of barnacles, bacteria, and algae on surfaces in contact with water, such as ship hulls, sea buoys, or offshore platforms. Their experiments showed that steel plates to which a coating containing dispersed vanadium pentoxide particles had been applied could be exposed to seawater for weeks without the formation of deposits of barnacles, bacteria, and algae. In comparison, plates that were coated only with the ship's normal paint exhibited massive fouling after exposure to seawater for the same period of time. The discovery could lead to the development of new protective, antifouling coatings and paints that are less damaging to the environment than the ship coatings currently used. ...

27.06.2012 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Mainz University coordinates new EU project on the origins of human settlement

Bridging the European and Anatolian Neolithic" is the name of a new multinational educational network which has received funding from the European Commission for the next four years. It is classified as a so-called Initial Training Network (ITN) in the EU Marie Curie Actions program, which allows young scientists early access to research activity at top international institutions. [...] Anthropologists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have been meticulous in their preparation of the project over the last years and have entered into various cooperations to underpin it. ...

22.06.2012 - Science Daily
The Blue Blood of the Emperor Scorpion X-Rayed

Biologists from Mainz University are the first to successfully crystallize the hemocyanin of the emperor scorpion to shed new light on the structure and active site of the giant oxygen transport protein. ...

22.06.2012 - British Journal of Healthcare Computing [UK]
Ambulatory monitoring of patients will become mainstream

Daily monitoring of health and behaviour gives more useful information for healthcare decision making, so patients will become even more involved in the observation and monitoring of their own health or illnesses at home, according to two health psychologists, writing in a special issue of Psychosomatic Medicine that covers this subject in depth. Dr Thomas Kubiak, Professor of Health Psychology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany and Arthur Stone of Stony Brook University in the US, believe that our everyday state of health and behaviour is much more helpful in determining proper diagnoses and therapies than lab-only results or questionnaires in which patients are asked to provide retrospective information about their state of health over the last few weeks or months. ...

11.06.2012 - The Hindu [India]
Recognising computer addiction in adolescents

When trying to determine whether a child is addicted to computer games or the Internet, parents should not only consider the amount of time the child spends at it. This is according to Klaus Woelfling, co-director of the Outpatient Gambling Addiction Department at Mainz University Medical Centre's Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy. ...

06.06.2012 - Eurasia Review
Exploiting Nanoparticles To Hunt For Hidden Cancer Cells

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research is providing over €300,000 for the next three years to fund a new research project at the Mainz University Medical Center aimed at using nanoparticles to detect dispersed tumor cells in cancer patients. ...

05.06.2012 - Hostingtecnews.com
New HPC Systems Position German Region as Leader in Scientific Computing

Two new high-performance mainframe computers went into full production at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and at the University of Kaiserslautern. ...

05.06.2012 - Chemistry World
Chiral separation with micro-flows

How do you separate enantiomers without any kind of chiral recognition between molecules? The answer it seems is to use asymmetric flow in a micro-fluidic channel. According to computer simulations run by scientists in Germany and Sweden, particles will move to different regions of the channel according to their chirality. ...

21.05.2012 - AZoNano - The A to Z of Nanotechnology [Australia / UK]
Volkswagen Foundation Provides €550,000 Grant for Project on Quantum Computers

The Volkswagen Foundation, in continuation of its support to the joint materials science project undertaken by the Universities of Osnabrück and Mainz, has allocated €550,000 to be disbursed over a period of three years. ...

18.05.2012 - Nanowerk
Performing quantum calculations using fullerenes and carbon nanotubes

The Volkswagen Foundation is financing a materials science project being conducted jointly by the universities in Mainz and Osnabrück in collaboration with the Jülich Research Center. The support is to be provided over a period of three years and will total €550,000. The project managers, Professor Dr. Angelika Kühnle and Dr. Wolfgang Harneit of the Institute of Physical Chemistry at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), were notified of the grant in March 2012. ...

13.05.2012 - Kuwait Times
Treatment for phantom sounds of tinnitus - Exposure to loud noise could lead to hearing loss

It can be a whistling, a clicking, a ringing or a hissing that no-one else hears because it exists only in the person’s own ears. The phantom sounds are called tinnitus and their cause is not entirely clear. For some people, the sounds go away by themselves in a few days. Other people have to live with them for decades. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can help sufferers not to focus on the noises constantly, and scientists in Mainz have offered CBT online for the first time in Germany - with success. There are various definitions of tinnitus. "We say it’s any noise in the ears that has no external source," said Maria Kleinstaeuber, a psychologist at Mainz University. ...

05.05.2012 - The Mercury [Australia]
Tassie's Mars mission

A scientist who helped NASA launch a successful mission to Mars has given Tasmania a special link with the mysterious Red Planet. ...

04.05.2012 - CNN
Survey: 1 in 4 users lie on Facebook

[...] A 2010 study of college students in the United States and Germany revealed that they typically presented accurate versions of their personalities on Facebook and a similar German site. "Online social networks are so popular and so likely to reveal people's actual personalities because they allow for social interactions that feel real in many ways," said psychologist Mitja Back of Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz ...

26.04.2012 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Mainz University Medical Center attracts funding of an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship

The Mainz University Medical Center has been successful in attracting funding of an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship worth €5 million. The funding was awarded in response to an application to appoint Professor Dr. Wolfram Ruf, a blood coagulation researcher (hemostaseologist) currently based in the USA, to the Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis (CTH) in Mainz. The success of the application was announced jointly by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. ...

23.04.2012 - www.research-in-germany.de
Shakespeare Illustration Archive Oppel-Hammerschmidt at the Mainz University Library goes online

Users worldwide have now full digital access to thousands of Shakespearean illustrations ...

22.04.2012 - The San Francisco Chronicle [USA]
Germany, devoted to print, slow to embrace e-books

As any rail commuter has noticed, the number of people ditching paperbacks in favor of a Kindle or iPad is exploding. E-books accounted for 20.2 percent of all books sold in the United States last year, up from 7.3 percent in 2010, according to Bowker Market Research. But that mass adoption of the digital word is still far off in one of Europe's most literate nations, Germany, where e-books account for only 1 percent of all book sales, according to a report published last month by market research firm GdK. ...

19.04.2012 - Businessweek
The Story Behind Germany's Scant E-Book Sales

As any New York City subway passenger has noticed, the number of people ditching paperbacks in favor of a Kindle or iPad is exploding. E-books last year accounted for 20.2 percent of all books sold in the U.S., up from 7.3 percent in 2010, according to Bowker Market Research. But that mass adoption of the digital word is still far off in one of Europe’s most-literate nations, Germany, where e-books account for only 1 percent of all book sales, according to a report published last month by the market research firm GdK. [...] "Germans have an emotional connection to books," [Dominique Pleimling, a researcher at the Institute of Book Studies at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz] says, noting that the printing press was invented in Germany and publishers to this day take great pride in producing top-quality books there. ...

19.04.2012 - Deutsche Welle
Foreign policy unlikely to change under new Syrian leadership

Large parts of the Syrian people have risen up against their regime. But a Middle East expert tells DW that the country's leadership and the opposition have quite a few points in common when it comes to foreign policy. Günter Meyer is a Professor of Geography at Germany's Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz and head of the Center for Research on the Arab World. ...

13.04.2012 - Spiegel Online
'We Read Best on Paper' - Cultural Resistance Hobbles German E-Book Market

Compared to the booming e-book market in the US, Germany's digital book sales are dismal. A set of cultural and economic factors mean that even in a country known for its bibliophilia, the technology will take a long time to catch on. ...

10.04.2012 - CHEM_EUROPE.COM
End of the magic: Shell model for beryllium isotopes invalidated

Atomic nuclei in laser light: Nuclear physicists investigate magic shells ...

05.04.2012 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
End of the magic: Shell model for beryllium isotopes invalidated

A research group led by Professor Dr. Wilfried Nortershäuser has, for the first time, managed to measure the size of the charge distribution in the atomic nucleus of the highly exotic beryllium-12 isotope. The researchers were surprised to find that the so-called charge radius increases in comparison with that of the beryllium-11 isotope, while the radius of the matter distribution was significantly smaller. These findings contradict the famous shell-model in nuclear physics regarding the structure of atomic nuclei as it was expected that the nuclear charge radius would also be smaller. ...

04.04.2012 - Nanowerk
Novel nanoparticle technique for single protein observation

Researchers must be able to recognise how proteins work so that they can understand the related biological processes that occur at the molecular level. They get this information by labelling proteins with fluorescent substances. The problem with this method, however, is that it alters the proteins and influences the biological processes under investigation. A new study from Germany has pioneered a novel method able to observe individual proteins. [...] Researchers at the Johannes Gutenberg University (JGU) in Mainz, Germany are responsible for the new technique. ...

31.03.2012 - United Press International (UPI)
Internet-based therapy reduces tinnitus

Internet-based therapy was as effective as group therapy sessions for people with tinnitus, researchers in Germany and Sweden found. Dr. Maria Kleinstauber of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and colleagues at the Linkoping University in Sweden divided patients with moderate to severe tinnitus into three categories: those receiving group therapy, those receiving Internet-based therapy and a control group that only participated in an online discussion forum. ...

30.03.2012 - Discovery News [USA]
Cows Almost Impossible To Domesticate, DNA Reveals

Cattle aren't known for their intelligence. Perhaps it's because their family tree has a very skinny trunk. Genetic evidence suggests all "taurine" cattle (the most commonly recognized breed) descend from only about 80 females and came from a single region in what is now Iran about 10,500 years ago. A study in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution traced the modern global herd's heritage back to its ancestral home on the range. ...

28.03.2012 - Daily Mail [UK]
DNA traces all cattle back to an 80-strong herd domesticated around 10,500 years ago

All cattle are descended from as few as 80 animals that were domesticated from wild ox in the Near East some 10,500 years ago, according to a new genetic study. An international team of scientists from University College London (UCL), the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France and the University of Mainz in Germany, were able to conduct the study by first extracting DNA from the bones of domestic cattle excavated in Iranian archaeological sites. ...

27.03.2012 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
DNA traces cattle back to a small herd domesticated around 10,500 years ago

All cattle are descended from as few as 80 animals that were domesticated from wild ox in the Near East some 10,500 years ago, according to a new genetic study. ...

15.03.2012 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Information processing in Drosophila: New EU research network for doctoral candidates

Eight European research institutes, including Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), and three commercial partners have joined forces in an EU project to provide young academics with an outstanding research environment in the field of systemic neuroscience. The project by the name of FLiACT has been awarded four years of EU-funding through the Marie Curie Actions program. ...

14.03.2012 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
New method of monitoring protein molecules using gold nanoantennas

Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany have developed a new method of observing individual proteins. ...

13.02.2012 - www.research-in-germany.de
Art historian at Mainz University participates in a new project on the history of royal residential cities

The long-term cultural studies project will examine the interaction between the bourgeois civil society and courtiers in urban environments ...

13.02.2012 - Eurasia Review
New Database For Islamic Documents From The Middle Ages

Scholars from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany are participating in the creation of a new database for Arabic documents from the 8th to 15th centuries A.D. ...

23.01.2012 - Nanowerk
Third issue of the Journal of Unsolved Questions now available

The third issue of the Journal of Unsolved Questions (JUnQ) is now available online and in print. JUnQ was founded in 2010 by doctoral students of the Graduate School of Excellence "Materials Science in Mainz" (MAINZ) in cooperation with scientists from around Europe. Since then, the journal has generated a great deal of interest. Its goal is to provide a forum through which information can be made available on the kind of excellent but inconclusive scientific projects that established scientific journals tend to ignore. ...

17.01.2012 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
New Collaborative Research Center 1044: The low-energy frontier of the standard model

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved funding for the establishment of a new Collaborative Research Center (CRC) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Beginning in January 2012, CRC 1044 "The Low-Energy Frontier of the Standard Model: From Quarks and Gluons to Hadrons and Nuclei" will tackle fundamental questions within the world of subatomic particles. ...

13.01.2012 - The Local
Canine name trend leaves Bello in dog house

Today's dog owners are well travelled, creative linguists who enjoy a drink - or so they'd like their pet’s name to suggest, as traditional canine names such as Bello are replaced by more individual choices, a new study says. ...

10.01.2012 - www.chemeurope.com
First hint of the Higgs boson particle

Particle physicists at Mainz University are excited: 50 years after its prediction, the Higgs boson gradually takes shape ...

06.01.2012 - Science Daily
First Hint of the Higgs Boson Particle

The answer to one of the most exciting questions in particle physics seems almost close enough to touch: Scientists at the Geneva research center CERN have observed first signs of the Higgs boson and now believe that they will soon be able to prove the existence of the elementary particle they have been trying so hard to isolate. It is the last missing piece in the puzzle of the Standard Model of particle physics to explain the structure of matter. A discovery would be sensational news. ...

05.01.2012 - BBC Nature [UK]
Ants turned into 'supersoldiers'

Ants can be programmed to become "supersoldiers", according to an international team of researchers. ...

23.12.2011 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
The -s plural marker is not a foreign import into the German language

The Anglicization of the German language can be seen throughout the country and is often disparaged as a form of foreign infiltration. It is indeed true that ever more English words are finding their way into everyday German language, as Germans often book an "Adventure" Urlaub (vacation), buy an "Outdoor" Jacke (jacket), ride a "Bike" instead of a Fahrrad, and talk about baking a "Cake" rather than a Kuchen. "The Anglo-American influence has certainly increased since the Second World War," confirms Professor Dr. Damaris Nübling of the German Department at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. ...

21.12.2011 - Scientific Computing
World Record Set for One-Loop Calculations

A new record for the calculation of scattering amplitudes in particle physics has been set by scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). This kind of calculation is used to predict the outcome of accelerator experiments in which high-energy particles collide with one another. However, the calculations become increasingly difficult the greater the number of orders the physicists wish to calculate. Professor Dr. Stefan Weinzierl's work group has now developed an algorithm which is far faster and requires less computing capacity than other algorithms. ...

07.12.2011 - Nanowerk
Counting atoms with glass fibre

Glass fibre cables are indispensable for the internet – now they can also be used as a quantum physics lab. The Vienna University of Technology is the only research facility in the world, where single atoms can be controllably coupled to the light in ultra-thin fibre glass. Specially prepared light waves interact with very small numbers of atoms, which makes it possible to build detectors that are extremely sensitive to tiny trace amounts of a substance. Professor Arno Rauschenbeutel's team, one of six research groups at the Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, has presented this new method in the journal Physical Review Letters ("Dispersive Optical Interface Based on Nanofiber-Trapped Atoms"). The research project was carried out in collaboration with the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. ...

06.12.2011 - R&D Magazine
New algorithm snags world record for physics calculation

Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany have set a new record for the calculation of scattering amplitudes. This kind of calculation is used to predict the outcome of accelerator experiments in which high-energy particles collide with one another. However, the calculations become increasingly difficult the greater the number of orders the physicists wish to calculate. ...

05.12.2011 - CORDIS News
ERC awards German researcher EUR 2.5 million for liver disease research

A German researcher hopes to develop therapeutic strategies to slow or even reverse the pathological development of fibrous connective tissue in body organs. The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded the scientist EUR 2.5 million to help him meet his research objectives. ...

05.12.2011 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
German researchers set world record in one-loop computations

Precision calculations in particle physics rely on the computation of higher order terms within perturbation theory. At the second order of perturbation theory, virtual one-loop Feynman diagrams - like the one shown here - occur. As the number of external particles increases, these diagrams become more and more difficult to calculate. In fact, with standard textbook methods the complexity increases stronger than doubling the number of grains of rice on each new field of a chess-board. Professor Weinzierl and his group invented a new algorithm which leads to a much slower growth. With this new algorithm the growth is only polynomial and goes like n4 as the number n of external particles increases. With this new method they were able to calculate a physical observable depending on a one-loop eight-point function for the first time ever. ...

02.12.2011 - European Hospital
ERC Advanced Grant for Professor Detlef Schuppan

Gastroenterologist of Mainz University receives the European Union's highest endowed research funding award ...

01.12.2011 - www.academics.com
British/American Studies at Mainz University ranked in the lead of top-level university research

British Studies / American Studies division at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz excels in terms of international orientation, publications, and doctorates ...

17.11.2011 - Nanowerk
ERC Advanced Grant for developing materials research based on Heusler compounds

Professor Dr. Claudia Felser of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has been awarded a grant by the European Research Council (ERC) worth more than € 2.4 million to further her research into new materials based on Heusler compounds. ...

20.10.2011 - Science Daily
Reading a Book Versus a Screen: Different Reading Devices, Different Modes of Reading?

A book or a screen – which of these two offers more reading comfort? There are no disadvantages to reading from electronic reading devices compared with reading printed texts. This is one of the results of the world's first reading study of its kind undertaken by the Research Unit Media Convergence of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in cooperation with MVB Marketing- und Verlagsservice des Buchhandels GmbH. ...

20.10.2011 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Different reading devices, different modes of reading?

A book or a screen – which of these two offers more reading comfort? There are no disadvantages to reading from electronic reading devices compared with reading printed texts. This is one of the results of the world's first reading study of its kind undertaken by the Research Unit Media Convergence of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in cooperation with MVB Marketing- und Verlagsservice des Buchhandels GmbH. ...

22.09.2011 - AZoNano - The A to Z of Nanotechnology [Australia / UK]
Researchers Develop Novel Method to Study Nanocrystalline Structures

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) researchers have devised a new method called single-crystal electron diffraction tomography to accurately identify the arrangement of molecules and atoms in materials ranging from pharmaceuticals to cement. ...

22.09.2011 - AZoM™ - The A to Z of Materials [UK / Australia]
Scientists Devise Unique Method to View Structure of Crystals at Nanoscale

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) scientists have devised a novel method called single-crystal electron diffraction tomography to accurately view the arrangement of molecules and atoms in materials ranging from pharmaceuticals to cement. ...

21.09.2011 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Research into molluscan phylogeny reveals deep animal relationship of snails and mussels

Snails, mussels, squids – as different as they may look, they do have something in common: they all belong to the phylum Mollusca, also called molluscs. An international team of researchers headed by Kevin Kocot and Professor Ken Halanych, USA, with the participation of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Germany, has carried out research into the relationships among different molluscs as part of a wide-ranging molecular phylogenetic study. This phylum includes more than 100,000 extant species which are divided into eight major lineages. Up to now, it has been disputed how these groups are related to each other and how they evolved. Through their collaboration, the scientists have now assembled a comprehensive data set and analyzed it in order to reveal the phylogeny of Mollusca. Surprisingly, they found a close relationship between snails and mussels. ...

20.09.2011 - Nanowerk
Researchers make visible the structure of the smallest crystals

A radical new way of making structures visible at the nano level has been developed at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). This new method makes it possible to determine with precision the arrangement of atoms and molecules in a diverse range of materials from cement to pharmaceuticals. The procedure, which is still in its infancy, comes from the field of electron microscopy and can resolve the structure of the tiniest crystals. The method was developed by Dr. Ute Kolb's working group at the Institute of Physical Chemistry at Mainz University and is now receiving international attention. In cooperation with researchers from Spain and China, the method has now allowed the structure of a new type of fine-pore zeolite to be established, a study that the journal Science published in the end of August 2011. ...

16.09.2011 - Digital Journal
End of communism has evolutionary consequences in Europe

The world rejoiced when the Iron Curtain fell in 1989, a change in Europe's landscape developing from that point on in history. A recent study shows that songbirds have also benefited with the end of communism by growing larger brains. [...] The study was prepared by Jiri Reif of the Charles University in Prague, along with colleagues from Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. Researchers of this preliminary study focused on what accounted for the success of each species and how they adapted to their new environs once the years of communism were over. ...

14.09.2011 - Science Daily
Sea Smarts: Scientists Reconstruct Evolutionary History of Mollusks

Seemingly simple animals such as the snail and squid have ransacked the genetic toolkit over the last half billion years to find different ways to build complex brains, nervous systems and shells, according to an international team of researchers. ...

11.09.2011 - Niagara Falls Review
After 9/11: This feels like The Age of Angry

The pangs started last month. Like the anxiety you felt as a kid knowing school was about to start, or a visit to the dentist was coming up. This awful day has to be endured. Again. Every year, for the rest of our lives, Sept. 11 will be commemorated in some way. But this is the big one -- the 10th anniversary -- and it's going to be overload. A marathon of misery. [...] Three scientists at Johannes Guttenberg University Mainz recently analyzed the content of thousands of text messages sent on 9/11, totalling more than 6.4 million words. They divided them into time blocks and keyed in on the emotional words. ...

09.09.2011 - Science Magazine
Superheavy Elements: Which Way to the Island?

As teams vie to create the next addition to the periodic table, the best path forward for superheavy-element research remains unclear // Last month at the Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research (GSI) in Darmstadt, Germany, a team of physicists and chemists from across the globe began firing an intense beam of titanium ions at a thin foil made of californium. They will continue to bombard it, day and night, until October. Their aim is to make a handful of atoms - or even just one - of a type that has never before existed on Earth: element 120. "It's a long run, an exciting run," says team leader Christoph Düllmann of GSI and the University of Mainz in Germany. "There's no guarantee that we'll find it, but we have a good chance." ...

07.09.2011 - www.livescience.com
Molecular Clues Hint at What Really Caused the Black Death

The Black Death arrived in London in the fall of 1348, and although the worst passed in less than a year, the disease took a catastrophic toll. An emergency cemetery in East Smithfield received more than 200 bodies a day between the following February and April, in addition to bodies buried in other graveyards, according to a report from the time. The disease that killed Londoners buried in East Smithfield and at least one of three Europeans within a few years time is commonly believed to be bubonic plague, a bacterial infection marked by painful, feverish, swollen lymph nodes, called buboes. Plague is still with us in many parts of the world, although now antibiotics can halt its course. But did this disease really cause the Black Death? The story behind this near-apocalypse in 14th century Europe is not clear-cut, since what we know about modern plague in many ways does not match with what we know about the Black Death. And if plague isn't responsible for the Black Death, scientists wonder what could've caused the sweeping massacre and whether that killer is still lurking somewhere. ...

03.09.2011 - News-Medical.Net [Australia]
Scientists clarify endogenous mechanism that can prevent development of allergies

Scientists at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz have clarified an endogenous mechanism that can prevent the development of allergies. They were able to show that certain cells of the immune system, so-called killer dendritic cells, are capable of eliminating allergy cells. The results of the study, which have now been published in the renowned Journal of Clinical Investigation, open up new perspectives for strategies to protect against allergies. ...

25.08.2011 - BBC News [UK]
Wise ant guides lead the way to a new nest

The tiny "house-hunting" ant Temnothorax albipennis lives in a fragile world, making its homes under tree bark and in rock crevices. These homes are easily destroyed and whenever this happens the ants have to find a site for a brand new nest. Scientists have now discovered that the ants rely on "knowledgeable" colony members that have explored the local area to guide them to a suitable spot. [...] Professor Susanne Foitzik, an ant expert from Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany, said the results were not surprising. Ant communities "generally show a division of labour among their workers - some ants specialise in certain tasks," she told BBC Nature. But, she added, "this study does greatly contribute to our understanding of the organisation of ant societies". ...

18.08.2011 - U.S. News Weekly [USA]
Ancient Clams Yield New Information on Greenhouse Effect

Ancient fossilized clams that lived off the coast of Antarctica some 50 million years ago have a story to tell about El Niño, according to Syracuse University researcher Linda Ivany. Their story calls into question contemporary theories that predict global warming could result in a permanent El Niño state of affairs. [...] The research, "El Niño in the Eocene Greenhouse Recorded by Fossil Bivalves and Wood from Antarctica," is published online in Geophysical Research Letters and is forthcoming in print. Ivany’s research team included Thomas Brey of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany as well as researchers from Purdue University, the University of Hawai’i, and the University of Mainz, Germany. The study was funded in part by the National Science Foundation. ...

16.08.2011 - The Japan Times
Man eating sharks - and mercury, group warns

[...] The methyl mercury found in shark meat is highly toxic to humans. We assimilate almost 100 percent of any methyl mercury ingested, which can pass through both the blood-brain barrier and the placenta, making it especially dangerous for pregnant women. Methyl mercury has been linked to mutations, cancer, decreased fertility and neurological damage. The maximum mercury intake allowed by the Joint FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization)/WHO (World Health Organization) Expert Committee on Food Additives is 0.23 micrograms per kilogram of body weight, yet recent tests of blue sharks by Johannes Gutenberg University found levels up to 4,000 micrograms. A 4-ounce (110-gram) serving of that shark would have exposed you to a massive 455 micrograms of methyl mercury. ...

06.08.2011 -
As Americans' debt has soared, so has obesity

Feeling fat and poor? You have lots of company. Consumer debt and obesity have both soared in America during the past three decades, and they've done so at strikingly similar rates. The parallel rise is not just a coincidence, say experts, who cite the common causes shared by overspending and overeating. [...] Though few have explored the link, a German study of more than 9,000 participants looked at the relationship between excessive debt and weight, and observed that the two were tied.Researchers at the University of Mainz found that those who were significantly in debt were 2.5 times more likely to be obese than adults of normal weight, even after adjusting for other socioeconomic factors such as income and education levels. Those who were overweight were twice as likely to be in debt, according to the 2009 study. ...

14.07.2011 - Scientific Computing
Mössbauer Group of Mainz University is preparing for participation in Japanese Moon mission and a mission to Mars' moon Phobos

Team led by Göstar Klingelhöfer cooperates with leading researcher of the Japanese space agency JAXA on solar system research projects. ...

13.07.2011 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Mainz University preparing for participation in Japanese moon mission

The Mössbauer Group at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Germany, has made a significant contribution towards the exploration of Mars during its long-term cooperation with the US space agency NASA. The Mainz research team led by Dr. Göstar Klingelhöfer is now building up new contacts with the aim of cooperating with JAXA, the Japanese space agency. ...

11.07.2011 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Tsunamis buried the cult site on the Peloponnese

Olympia, site of the famous Temple of Zeus and original venue of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece, was presumably destroyed by repeated tsunamis that travelled considerable distances inland, and not by earthquake and river floods as has been assumed to date. Evidence in support of this new theory on the virtual disappearance of the ancient cult site on the Peloponnesian peninsula comes from Professor Dr. Andreas Vött of the Institute of Geography of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany. Vött investigated the site as part of a project in which he and his team are studying the paleotsunamis that occurred along the coastlines of the eastern Mediterranean over the last 11,000 years. According to his account, the geomorphological and sedimentological findings in the area document that Olympia and its environs were destroyed by tsunami impact. The site of Olympia, rediscovered only some 250 years ago, was buried under a massive layer of sand and other deposits that is up to 8 meters deep. ...

10.07.2011 - Science Daily
Ant Colonies: Behavioral Variability Wins

[...] The evolution and behavior of ants, in particular the relationship between socially parasitic ants and their hosts, is the research topic of a work group headed by Professor Dr. Susanne Foitzik at the Institute of Zoology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Germany. Evolutionary biologists at Mainz University found that ant colonies are more productive and raise more offspring when the workers in the colony display considerable variation in their levels of aggression. This variation in aggression is possibly part of their division of labor, which is regarded as the basis of the success of social insect societies. ...

10.07.2011 - Science Daily
Olympia Hypothesis: Tsunamis Buried the Cult Site On the Peloponnese

Olympia, site of the famous Temple of Zeus and original venue of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece, was presumably destroyed by repeated tsunamis that travelled considerable distances inland, and not by earthquake and river floods as has been assumed to date. Evidence in support of this new theory on the virtual disappearance of the ancient cult site on the Peloponnesian peninsula comes from Professor Dr. Andreas Vött of the Institute of Geography of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany. ...

06.07.2011 - Science Daily
English for Advanced Learners: Linguists Examine Obstacles to Native-Like Proficiency in Foreign Language Acquisition

The use of English as a second and foreign language is steadily increasing, and although English and German have common roots, even advanced German learners of English find it difficult to achieve a native-like level of proficiency in English. "It appears that many of the obstacles that advanced learners find difficult to overcome are related to linguistic variation, to contexts in which fixed grammatical rules are not available, and several alternatives of expression are possible," explains Professor Marcus Callies of the Department of English and Linguistics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). ...

05.07.2011 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
New research shows ants able to discern difference between threat levels

In an interesting study designed to determine how well ants are able to gauge a threat, Inon Scharf and his colleagues at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, have shown that even simple ants are able to clearly distinguish between serious threats and those that aren’t so dire. In their paper, published on Ethology, the team found that a species of forest ant, Temnothorax longispinosus, are able to tell on sight if an invader is a serious threat, or just a mild one, and to react more stringently when the stakes are higher. ...

01.07.2011 - News-Medical.Net [Australia]
Small molecule treatment holds promise for Usher syndrome

New treatment approach shall soon be ready for use in Usher syndrome patients / Publication in "Human Gene Therapy" ...

24.06.2011 - The Christian Science Monitor [USA]
Germany: Help for computer 'addicts'

[...] Six to 9 percent of 7,000 youths and adults surveyed by Klaus Wölfing, a Mainz University psychologist who created Germany's first clinic for computer games, show symptoms similar to Florian's. ...

23.06.2011 - WIRED
Proton Somersault Study Could Explain Why Matter Still Exists

For the first time, physicists have watched a single proton flip over on its axis. Aside from being a technical triumph, the measurement may eventually help determine why the universe contains more matter than antimatter. ...

21.06.2011 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Magnetic properties of a single proton directly observed for the first time

German researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM), together with their colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg and the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt, have observed spin quantum-jumps with a single trapped proton for the first time. The fact that they have managed to procure this elusive data means that they have overtaken their research competitors at the elite Harvard University and are now the global leaders in this field. ...

09.06.2011 - Scientific Computing
Ultracold Neutrons will Help to Solve Mysteries of Astrophysics

Scientists have built what is currently the strongest source of ultracold neutrons. Ultracold neutrons (UCNs) were first generated here five years ago. They are much slower than thermal neutrons and are characterized by the fact that they can be stored in special containers. This property makes them important tools for experiments to investigate why matter dominates over antimatter in our universe and how the lightest elements were created directly after the Big Bang. "We have commissioned a new UCN source and improved the overall procedure so that we can now generate and store considerably more ultracold neutrons than before and more than anybody else," said Werner Heil of the Institute of Physics at Mainz University. Having so far managed to achieve a density of ten UCN per cubic centimeter, the Mainz research team of chemists and physicists has become one of the global leaders in this research field. ...

09.06.2011 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Solving the mysteries of astrophysics: Ultracold neutrons

Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU, Germany) have built what is currently the strongest source of ultracold neutrons. Ultracold neutrons (UCNs) were first generated here five years ago. They are much slower than thermal neutrons and are characterized by the fact that they can be stored in special containers. This property makes them important tools for experiments to investigate why matter dominates over antimatter in our universe and how the lightest elements were created directly after the Big Bang. "We have commissioned a new UCN source and improved the overall procedure so that we can now generate and store considerably more ultracold neutrons than before and more than anybody else," says Professor Werner Heil of the Institute of Physics at Mainz University. Having so far managed to achieve a density of ten UCN per cubic centimeter, the Mainz research team of chemists and physicists has become one of the global leaders in this research field. ...

09.05.2011 - Nanotechnology Now
Future technology spintronics: Mainz intensifies its cooperation with renowned experimental physicist Stuart Parkin

Mainz University's Gutenberg Research College (GRC) awarded a fellowship to the British-American scientist Professor Stuart Parkin ...

22.03.2011 - BBC Sport [UK]
Cracking coaching's final frontier

Countless reasons have been put forward to explain England's repeated failure at international tournaments, so here is another one - a lack of intelligence. [...] That is where Belgian Uefa A licence coach Michel Bruyninckx comes in. [...] Labels aside, what is indisputable is the enormous amount of research that Bruyninckx has devoted to his method, which incorporates the idea of "differential learning", a training approach pioneered by Professor Wolfgang Schoellhorn of Mainz University. "The idea is that there is no repetition of drills, no correction and players are encouraged not to think about what has gone wrong if they have made a mistake," explained Schoellhorn, an expert in kinesiology or human movement. ...

21.03.2011 - Scientific Computing
Half-time for Mars500 Mission

The Mars500 mission, a simulated mission to the red planet, has reached its half-way mark: After a 250-day virtual flight, the crew members recently landed on the virtual red planet and left the isolation container at the Moscow Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in their space suits. Researchers from the Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have been involved in the Mars500 isolation study in an attempt to answer the question of how medical emergencies might be managed without external assistance. ...

18.03.2011 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Werner Mueller wins prestigious award from the European Research Council

The European Research Council has awarded one of this year's ERC Advanced Grants to Springer editor Dr. Werner Müller, thus supporting his well-established research in the field of biosilicates with prize money of €2.2 million. ...

17.03.2011 - JuraForum
Mainz University enters the final round of the German Federal Excellence Competition

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is invited to submit its definite proposals for a graduate school, three clusters of excellence, and its future concept "The Gutenberg Spirit: Moving Minds - Crossing Boundaries" ...

11.03.2011 - Science Daily
Half-Time for Mars500: Simulated Mission to the Red Planet

The Mars500 mission -- a simulated mission to the red planet in which researchers from the Mainz University Medical Center in Germany are involved -- has reached its half-way mark: After a 250-day virtual flight, the crew members recently landed on the virtual red planet and left the isolation container at the Moscow Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in their space suits. ...

10.03.2011 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Half-time for the Mars500 mission

The Mars500 mission – a simulated mission to the red planet in which researchers from the Mainz University Medical Center in Germany are involved – has reached its half-way mark: After a 250-day virtual flight, the crew members recently landed on the virtual red planet and left the isolation container at the Moscow Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in their space suits. ...

08.03.2011 - Science Centric
Opalinus Clay as a potential host rock for nuclear waste repositories

Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Germany, have studied natural claystone in the laboratory for more than four years in order to determine how the radioactive elements plutonium and neptunium react with this rock. ...

08.03.2011 - Science Daily
Peanut Worms Are Annelids

Recent molecular phylogenetic analysis has shown that the marine animals known as peanut worms are not a separate phylum, but are definitely part of the family of annelids, also known as segmented worms. This is a classification that seemed questionable in the past in view of the fact that peanut worms -- or the Sipunculidae, to give them their scientific name -- have neither segments nor bristles. The latter are considered typical characteristics of annelids, which include more than 16,500 identified species and to which our common earthworm belongs. "Our molecular data clearly demonstrates that there is no doubt anymore that the Sipunculidae should be classified as members of these segmented worms," explains Dr. Bernhard Lieb of the Institute of Zoology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). ...

03.03.2011 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Peanut worm no longer recognized as separate group

Recent molecular phylogenetic analysis has shown that the marine animals known as peanut worms are not a separate phylum, but are definitely part of the family of annelids, also known as segmented worms. This is a classification that seemed questionable in the past in view of the fact that peanut worms – or the Sipunculidae, to give them their scientific name – have neither segments nor bristles. The latter are considered typical characteristics of annelids, which include more than 16,500 identified species and to which our common earthworm belongs. "Our molecular data clearly demonstrates that there is no doubt anymore that the Sipunculidae should be classified as members of these segmented worms," explains Dr. Bernhard Lieb of the Institute of Zoology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). The results were obtained as part of a broad study in which the phylogenetic development and relationships within the phylum Annelida were analyzed in terms of basic molecular biology to be then re-evaluated. Participating in the project are the universities of Osnabrück, Potsdam, Mainz, and Leipzig, together with the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Genetics in Berlin. The results have now been published online in the journal Nature. ...

23.02.2011 - www.research-in-germany.de
Inauguration of the Gutenberg Teaching Committee: Innovative concept for the promotion of teaching and teaching competence

Gutenberg Teaching Committee will also develop contributions to course structures and study conditions at Mainz University / €3.7 million made available ...

15.02.2011 - EyeWorld - The Newsmagazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery
European perspectives in treating glaucoma

As diverse as the European continent is in history and tradition, there are many similarities in attitudes toward glaucoma treatment. For one, most European ophthalmologists would first consider medical therapy, according to Norbert Pfeiffer, M.D., director, Mainz University Hospital, Mainz, Germany, and past executive committee member of the European Glaucoma Society. Of course, this practice has been supported by the availability of prostaglandins and other medications now in routine use for almost 10 years, he said. ...

09.02.2011 - www.research-in-germany.de
Laboratory for Molecular Exercise Physiology at Mainz University is up and running

Specialists at JGU develop tests to detect gene doping and individual exercise concepts for therapeutic purposes as well as for popular sports and for high-performance athletes ...

08.02.2011 - www.innovations-report.de
Laboratory for Molecular Exercise Physiology at Mainz University is up and running

Specialists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany develop tests to detect gene doping and individual exercise concepts for therapeutic purposes as well as for popular sports and for high-performance athletes ...

07.02.2011 - Medical News
Patients with kidney tumours can benefit from nephron-sparing surgery

Patients with kidney tumours larger than four centimetres are much more likely to enjoy good long-term renal function if they undergo nephron-sparing surgery rather than radical nephrectomy, according to a study in the February issue of the urology journal BJUI. Researchers from the Department of Urology at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, studied 166 patients for up 19 years, with a median follow up of five-and-a-half years. ...

07.02.2011 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Less radical tumor surgery can offer better long-term kidney function

Patients with kidney tumours larger than four centimetres are much more likely to enjoy good long-term renal function if they undergo nephron-sparing surgery rather than radical nephrectomy, according to a study in the February issue of the urology journal BJUI. Researchers from the Department of Urology at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, studied 166 patients for up 19 years, with a median follow up of five-and-a-half years. The participants were split into two groups – 81 "younger" patients up to 55 and 85 "older" patients aged 65 and over. They found that, regardless of age, the patients who underwent radical nephrectomy (RN) were twice as likely to develop new onsets of chronic kidney disease than those who underwent nephron-sparing surgery (NSS). ...

10.01.2011 - Science Daily
Genetic Mutation Responsible for 'Gigantism' Disease

An international research team, spearheaded by scientists from the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, has identified the genetic mutation responsible for a disease known as "gigantism" or acromegaly. The results of the study – conducted, among others, by the Paleogenetics Group of the Institute of Anthropology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany – were recently published in the renowned New England Journal of Medicine. It is hoped that these will help in the treatment of patients suffering from acromegaly. ...

07.01.2011 - www.innovations-report.de
Genes from the 18th century help patients of today

Mainz University Paleogenetics Group participates in study of acromegaly attributable to genetic mutation ...

05.01.2011 - The New York Times [USA]
In a Giant’s Story, a New Chapter Writ by His DNA

He was a giant of a man, 7 feet 7 inches tall, who left his home in Ireland when he was 19 and traveled to London to make his fortune as a freak. There Charles Byrne, known as the Irish Giant, garnered wealth and fame. [...] [R]esearchers in Britain and Germany have extracted DNA from Mr. Byrne’s teeth and solved the mystery of his excessive height. ...

05.01.2011 - Yorkshire Post
DNA links 18th century 'giant' with genetic mutation

Genetic codes obtained from the body of an 18th century "giant" could help change the lives of patients hundreds of years later. ...

02.12.2010 - www.research-in-germany.de
Professor Marcela Carena receives the Humboldt Research Award and comes to Mainz University

Leading expert in the physics of the Higgs Boson to do research at the Theoretical High Energy Physics (THEP) group at Mainz University ...

27.11.2010 - The Australian
Ancient DNA trail leads to modern killers: microbial scourges

[...] Applying a suite of analytical techniques to ancient DNA from 76 human skeletons buried in suspected mass graves for plague victims in England, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, a German team has identified the deadly killer: two previously unknown strains of the bacterium Yersinia pestis. "Our findings indicate that the plague travelled to Europe over at least two channels, which then went their own individual ways," says team leader Barbara Bramanti of the Institute of Anthropology of Mainz University. ...

14.11.2010 - Science
Can Google Predict the Stock Market?

Whoever figures out how to predict the stock market will get rich quick. Unfortunately, the market's ups and downs ultimately depend on the choices of a massive number of people - and you don't know what they're thinking about before they decide to buy or sell a stock. Then again, maybe Google knows. A team of scientists has shown a strong correlation between queries submitted to the Internet search giant and the weekly fluctuations in stock trading. But it's unlikely to make anyone wealthy. ...

31.10.2010 - New York Times [USA]
Europe’s Plagues Came From China, Study Finds

[...] One team of biologists, led by Barbara Bramanti of the Institut Pasteur in Paris and Stephanie Haensch of Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany, analyzed ancient DNA and proteins from plague pits, the mass burial grounds across Europe in which the dead were interred. Writing in the journal PLoS Pathogens this month, they say their findings put beyond doubt that the Black Death was brought about by Yersinia pestis. ...

10.10.2010 - Top News Singapore
Black Death mystery solved

Anthropologists said that they have confirmed long-running suspicions that an organism called Yersiniaa pestis caused the plague which wiped out an estimated one-third of Europe's population in the Middle Ages. ...

10.10.2010 - News-Medical.Net [Australia]
'Black Death' of the Middle ages blamed on bacteria

[...] Stephanie Haensch, a co-leader of the research, at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany said, "The history of this pandemic is much more complicated than we had previously thought." The team tried to look for Y. pestis genes in the samples and match for either of two types of Y. pestis that are still present in parts of Africa, America, the Middle East and in the former Soviet Union. ...

10.10.2010 - www.redorbit.com
Researchers Confirm Black Death Killer Bacteria

Black Death, one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, has been confirmed by anthropologists to have been caused by a germ called Yersinia pestis. Researchers studied tooth and bone samples from 76 skeletons discovered in "plague pits" in France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands and found DNA evidence that Y. pestis was to blame for the plague that wiped out nearly a third of Europe’s population during the Middle Ages. ...

09.10.2010 - Science Centric
Yersinia pestis clearly identified as the cause of the big plague epidemic of the Middle Ages

The latest tests conducted by anthropologists at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have proven that the bacteria Yersinia pestis was indeed the causative agent behind the 'Black Death' that raged across Europe in the Middle Ages. ...

08.10.2010 - Discovery News [USA]
Black Death Blamed on Bacteria: The bacteria wiped out a third of Europe's population in the Middle Ages

[...] "The history of this pandemic is much more complicated than we had previously thought," said Stephanie Haensch, a co-leader of the research, at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. In samples where Y. pestis genes were found, the researchers ran a test for 20 DNA markers to identify a particular bacterial strain. They wanted to see if there was a match for either of two types of Y. pestis that are still knocking around the world today, in parts of Africa, America, the Middle East and in the former Soviet Union. ...

08.10.2010 - Science Daily
Yersinia Pestis Bacteria Confirmed as Cause of Middle Ages 'Black Death' Plague Epidemic

The latest tests conducted by anthropologists at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have proven that the bacteria Yersinia pestis was indeed the causative agent behind the "Black Death" that raged across Europe in the Middle Ages. ...

07.10.2010 - News-Medical.Net [Australia]
New microtechnology approach may prevent pelvic autonomic nerve injury in rectal cancer surgical procedure

Surgeons in Germany have found that using microtechnology to electronically stimulate and monitor pelvic autonomic nerves may help prevent problems after a surgical procedure for rectal cancer, such as bladder, urinary and fecal incontinence, and sexual function disorders [...] After a successful research trial in laboratory pigs, the approach has yielded promising preliminary results in a limited number of human patients during operations to remove tumors from the lower rectum, according to lead investigator Werner Kneist, MD, at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. ...

06.10.2010 - www.newswise.com
Surgeons Report on New Method to Preserve Bladder, Sexual, and Anorectal Function After Rectal Operations

Surgeons in Germany have found that using microtechnology to elec-tronically stimulate and monitor pelvic autonomic nerves may help prevent problems after a surgical procedure for rectal cancer, such as bladder, urinary and fecal incontinence, and sexual function disorders, according to a study reported at the 2010 Annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons. Autonomic nerves act involuntarily to control body functions. After a successful research trial in laboratory pigs, the approach has yielded promising preliminary results in a limited number of human patients during operations to remove tumors from the lower rectum, according to lead investigator Werner Kneist, MD, at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. ...

29.09.2010 - Star Global Tribune
Multiple Sclerosis Treatment - New Discoveries May Lead To Another Treatment Strategy

New insights into the methods in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system in patients affected by Multiple Sclerosis (MS) have been discovered by researchers in Germany, who used imaging tools which enable the investigation of processes within living organisms. MS is an incurable autoimmune disease which causes the immune system to attack the central nervous system, resulting in weakened muscles, difficulties in walking, sensations of numbness, as well as visual disturbances. The research was conducted by Dr. Volker Siffrin and Professor Dr. Frauke Zipp of the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. ...

10.09.2010 - CBC News
9/11 attacks: Sept. 11 pager messages reveal emotions of day

A timeline of anger, anxiety, sadness [...] Three Mainz University professors - Albert Kuefner, Mitja Back and Boris Egloff - used a WikiLeaks-released document of pager messages from Sept. 11 to detail a timeline of the emotions (anger, sadness and anxiety) expressed in texts throughout the day. "I think we can get some sort of idea or hint at least of what was going on in the States that day, all that anguish and wanting to seek revenge," said Kuefner. ...

03.09.2010 - Science Centric
Gene doping detectable with a simple blood test

German scientists from Tuebingen and Mainz have developed a blood test that can reliably detect gene doping even after 56 days. ...

02.09.2010 - Dentistry Today
New e-learning Platform Available for Students

The new e-learning platform ILKUM (an acronym for "Interaktiver Lernzielkatalog der Universitätsmedizin Mainz" or interactive catalogue of learning objectives of Mainz University Medical Center) is a sign of things to come: students of dentistry in 2010 now only need internet access to be able to download case studies with film and image material showing disease patterns and surgical procedures directly to their laptop, iPad, or iPhone. ...

02.09.2010 - Medical News Today
Dental Surgery At The Click Of A Mouse

New E-learning Platform For Students Of Dentistry At Mainz University Medical Center ...

01.09.2010 - www.young-germany.de
Uni Mainz dentistry program launches Germany's first e-learning platform

A new e-learning platform for dentistry students at Mainz University Medical Center is being touted as a sign of things to come. Students can now download case studies with film and photo material and surgical procedures directly onto their laptop, iPad or even iPhone. The program is Germany's first and only such e-learning platform. ...

31.08.2010 - Psychology Today
Evolved Primate: Identity, decision making and human behavior from an integrated social science perspective

Wikileaks Emotional Diary of September 11th ...

19.08.2010 - www.research-in-germany.de
Mainz University opens new vista in smart materials: Fully reversible functionalization of inorganic nanotubes

Scientists at JGU have devised a tool which allows fully reversible binding of metal oxides to inorganic nanotubes ...

18.08.2010 - www.innovations-report.de
Mainz University opens new vista in smart materials: Fully reversible functionalization of inorganic nanotubes

Scientists at JGU have devised a tool which allows fully reversible binding of metal oxides to inorganic nanotubes ...

12.08.2010 - www.nature.com
Home computer finds rare pulsar

The Einstein@Home volunteer-computing project makes its first discovery. ...

02.08.2010 - Nanowerk
Journey to new worlds: Electronics of the future and quantum computers

The Graduate School of Excellence "Materials Science in Mainz" (MAINZ) of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, honored Professor Shoucheng Zhang of Stanford University, California, USA, with the 2010 Gutenberg Research Award worth €20,000. ...

26.07.2010 - compoundsemiconductor.net
Homogeneity Holds the Key to CIGS Cell Efficiency

Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have found that gallium-rich CIGS cells are less homogeneous than indium-rich cells and hence have lower efficiencies. ...

20.07.2010 - www.newelectronics.co.uk
Research into Heusler compounds – a material class for the use in spintronic applications – is being considered for future technologies such as the quantum computer

Teams from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany and Stanford University have uncovered a new quantum state of matter in Heusler compounds which they claim opens up 'previously unimagined usage possibilities'. ...

20.07.2010 - www.innovations-report.de
Heusler Materials: Goldmine for Future Technologies

New quantum state of matter discovered in Heusler compounds - Researchers from Mainz and Stanford pave the way for spintronics, quantum computing and completely new physical effects ...

20.07.2010 - Science Daily
Breakthrough in thin-film solar cells: New insights into the indium/gallium puzzle

Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Mainz have made a major breakthrough in their search for more efficient thin-film solar cells. ...

15.07.2010 - www.innovations-report.de
The Sun's infrared-A is not detrimental to the skin

Recent scientific publications refute concerns regarding the infrared-A (IRA) component of the Sun's radiation. Specific protection against the Sun's infrared-A is therefore unnecessary. As far as ultraviolet in Sun's radiation is concerned, an adequate protection is still required. Two new publications from the Berlin Charité and the University Medical Centre Mainz and from the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim confirm earlier studies concerning the harmlessness of infrared-A and its usefulness to humans. They refute concerns regarding possible detrimental effects of infrared-A, which is the main part of the Sun's thermal radiation. In the Earth's moderate climate zones, the infrared A-radiation reaches the Earth's surface after being filtered by the water vapour in the Earth's atmosphere, and is thus especially well tolerable. ...

05.07.2010 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Experimental psychology used to investigate spatial perception in the presence of different color tones

A room will appear to be higher or lower depending on the lightness of the color tones used on ceiling and walls. However, it would seem there is no scientific basis for the old do-it-yourself rule to paint the ceiling in a hue slightly paler than the color used on the walls if you want to create the impression that a room is higher than it actually is. This is the conclusion reached following a study conducted by the Institute of Psychology of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) to investigate the effect of relative brightness of coloration of ceiling, walls and floor on the perceived height of interior spaces. ...

18.06.2010 - BBC News [UK]
German cathedral bones 'are Saxon queen Eadgyth'

Scientists have revealed that they think bones found in a German cathedral are those of one of the earliest members of the English royal family. ...

17.06.2010 - The Guardian [UK]
Remains of first king of England's sister found in German cathedral

Bones offer insight into the royal life of Eadgyth, who was married off to a German king in 929 by her brother Athelstan ...

17.06.2010 - Daily Mail [UK]
Remains discovered in Germany confirmed as oldest confirmed British Royal, who died more than 1,000 years ago

Bones found in a German cathedral belong to the granddaughter of Saxon king Alfred the Great, experts confirmed today. ...

17.06.2010 - www.chemie.de
Award for a brilliant copper trick

Polish-American polymer scientist Krzysztof Matyjaszewski receives the €10,000 Gutenberg Lecture Award of the Graduate School of Materials Science in Mainz (MAINZ) ...

11.06.2010 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Study shows significant positive outcomes following behavioral therapy for depression

German researchers based at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have been able to demonstrate both the efficacy and the extent of the beneficial effect of routine psychotherapeutic treatment for depression. ...

27.05.2010 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
German physicists develop a quantum interface between light and atoms

German hysicists at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have developed a quantum interface which connects light particles and atoms. ...

25.05.2010 - CORDIS News
Possibilities abound for new quantum interface

German physicists have created a quantum interface that connects light particles and atoms, an essential part of improving the capacity of quantum technologies. [...] In their paper, the scientists from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany explain that both trapping and optically interfacing laser-cooled neutral atoms is fundamental to their use in advanced quantum technologies. ...

24.05.2010 - Science Centric
Use of mobile phones does not increase the risk of development of cerebral tumors

Interphone is the largest case-control study to date to investigate the link between mobile phones and the risk of cancer. It concludes that average use of mobiles does not present a specific risk, although results are less clear-cut with regard to very frequent users. ...

22.05.2010 - EveryDay Science
Last straight line before the creation of the Center on Thrombosis and Haemostasis in Mainz

An international committee of experts has issued 29 April 2010 a positive opinion for the establishment of a Center on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (CTH) in Mainz. This center will be the sixth of eight integrated centers of translational research and care (Forschungs-und Integrierte Behandlungszentren – IFB) under the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). This new structure common to the Johannes Gutenberg University and the University Clinic of Mainz will be funded to the tune of €15 million over the next 5 years. ...

20.05.2010 - Nanowerk
Physicists develop a nanowire quantum interface between light and atoms

Physicists at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have developed a quantum interface which connects light particles and atoms. The interface is based on an ultra-thin glass fiber and is suitable for the transmission of quantum information. ...

19.05.2010 - Press TV
Royal seals found in Haft Tappeh

Archeological excavations at the ancient site of Haft Tappeh, near the historical city of Susa, have yielded two royal seals dating back to 3,400 years ago. ...

09.04.2010 - Nanowerk
Yeast from the nanotechnology laboratory

[...] The latest research currently being conducted in India has shown that nanoparticles can promote the growth of fungi and even assist plant growth. The Institute of Microbiology and Vinology at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany is also to become involved in this new field of research and will be collaborating with the Indian specialist Professor Dr. Ajit Varma to investigate the effects of nanoparticles on microorganisms, particularly yeast. ...

25.03.2010 - Science Daily
Summers Were Wetter in the Middle Ages Than They Are Today

[...] "Annual growth rings provide us with an accurate indication of summer droughts for each individual year, dating back to late medieval times," adds Professor Dr. Jan Esper of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. ...

16.03.2010 - The Guardian [UK]
Brain food: the truth about internet profiles

[...] But for all the horror stories, there remains little hard evidence of how far the 700 million-plus users of MySpace, Facebook and other social-networking sites adopt a different persona online. So Mitja Back, a psychologist at Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, set out to get some. And he eventually found that internet profiles are more truthful than you might think. ...

08.03.2010 - www.research-in-germany.de
Official kick-off of the "European Language Diversity for All" research project is to take place in Mainz

EU funds research on individual and societal multilingualism with €2.67 million. ...

05.03.2010 - European Commission CORDIS Express
Social media users likely to be honest, says research

[...] A group led by Mitja Back of the Johannes Gutenburg University in Mainz, Germany studied 133 American Facebook users and 103 Germans who use a similar social media site. The researchers asked the users to answer two questionnaires- one describing their actual personality and one asking about what the volunteer would see as their ideal self. ...

17.02.2010 - Nanowerk
IBM Shared University Research Award for work to improve solar cells

IBM awarded an international prize to the Johannes Gutenberg University (JGU) Mainz, Germany - to support research work being carried out by Professor Dr. Claudia Felser to improve solar cells. ...

04.02.2010 - Science Business
Mainz University agrees joint venture with Nagasaki University

The University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz has agreed a joint programme of research into radiation epidemiology and radiation biology with Nagasaki University in Japan. ...

30.01.2010 - News-Medical.Net [Australia]
Mainz University Medical Center and Nagasaki University announce joint research into radiation epidemiology and biology

At the focus of the partnership will be the joint development of a program of research into radiation epidemiology and radiation biology, the establishment of an exchange program for scientists and academics at the two universities, and, over the long term, the creation of a joint multicenter research project. ...

27.01.2010 - physicsworld.com
Carbon-cycle feedback smaller, but still positive

Researchers in Switzerland and Germany have analysed data stretching back 1000 years to get the best estimate yet of how changes in global temperature affect the biosphere's ability to soak up carbon dioxide. The team found that this feedback coefficient is about five times smaller than previously expected – which suggests that the amplification of manmade global warming by carbon-cycle feedback will be less than previously thought. ...

14.12.2009 - The Telegraph [UK]
Wine tastes better in blue or red lit rooms

Dr. Daniel Oberfeld-Twistel, of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, said: "It is already known that the colour of a drink can influence the way we taste it. "We wanted to know whether background lighting, for example in a restaurant, makes a difference as well." ...

08.12.2009 - Time Magazine
TIME's The 50 Best Inventions of 2009: Packing, Improved

Johannes Schneider may not have the coolest invention on this list, but it sure is practical. The University of Mainz researcher and his team developed an algorithm that broke the record for fitting a given number of different-size discs into the smallest circle. ...

20.11.2009 - UEFA
MESGO convention signed at UEFA HQ

A convention creating a new Executive Master in European Sport Governance (MESGO) has been signed at UEFA's headquarters. [...] The course is supported by a number of academic bodies: Birkbeck Sports Business Centre, Birkbeck College, University of London; Centre de Droit et d'Economie du Sport, Université de Limoges; Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz; Institut Nacional d'Educació Física de Catalunya, University of Lleida; Sciences Po Paris. ...

12.11.2009 - ISIS - Institute of Science in Society
Cardiovascular Risks from Swine Flu Vaccines

Now, researchers at Mainz University Medical Center in Germany led by Sucharit Bhakdi have added cardiovascular risks that are not generally appreciated. ...

03.11.2009 - The Independent
Too much white wine could ruin teeth, researchers say

Drinking white wine regularly could do damage to your pearly whites - more so than drinking red wine, says a team of German researchers reporting in the journal Nutrition Research. Researchers from Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz analyzed the effects of eight different varieties of red and white wines and their effects on extracted adult teeth that were soaked for 24 hours. ...

21.10.2009 - Daily Express
On red alert... How white wine can rot your teeth

The scientists from Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, compared the erosive effects of eight red and white wines from Germany, France, Italy and Spain on the enamel surface of extracted human teeth. ...

21.10.2009 - Daily Mail [UK]
White wine rots your teeth... and brushing makes it worse

A team from Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, looked at the effects of eight red and white wines from Germany, France, Italy and Spain on the enamel of teeth removed from men and women aged 40 to 65. ...

30.09.2009 - apa [Azerbaijan]
"Cross-culture dialogue: Kitabi-Dede Gorgud and the Nibelungen Saga" project kicked off

The project "Cross-culture dialogue: Kitabi-Dede Gorgud and the Nibelungen Saga" was kicked off. The first international symposium within the project carried out by Baku Slavic University, Mainz University and Oswald von Wolkenstein Foundation was started at the Slavic University on Wednesday [...] ...

24.09.2009 - Stars and Stripes
Near Army construction site in Germany, a trove of ancient Roman artifacts

A team of archaeology students and experts believe they have unearthed remnants of a Roman settlement from the second or third century near the construction site of an Army housing project, but the discovery isn’t expected to affect the project. ...

22.09.2009 - www.redorbit.com
University Medical Center Mainz Completes Installation of Masimo Noninvasive and Continuous Hemoglobin Throughout Their Operating Rooms, Intensive Care Units and Emergency Department

Masimo (Nasdaq: MASI), the inventor of Pulse CO-Oximetry(TM) and Measure-Through Motion and Low-Perfusion pulse oximetry, announced today that the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany has completed its clinical installation of Masimo noninvasive and continuous hemoglobin (SpHb) technology in their ORs, ICUs and EDs, as part of their efforts to improve patient care. ...

04.09.2009 - www.innovations-report.de
Central Europe was repopulated 7,500 years ago - Ice Age hunter-gatherers are not the ancestors of the first sedentary tillers

Europe's first farmers were immigrants - International team headed by Mainz University analyzes the DNA of the last hunter-gatherers ...

03.09.2009 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Europe's first farmers replaced their Stone Age hunter-gatherer forerunners

DNA study suggests that further waves of prehistoric immigration are waiting to be discovered. Central and northern Europe's first farmers were immigrants with barely any ancestral ties to the modern population, a study has found. ...

26.08.2009 - Medical News
New Troponin Assays Quicker to Confirm MI

A generation of new, more sensitive troponin assays has improved hospitals' ability to diagnose a heart attack to a point as early as the time of emergency department presentation, two separate studies affirmed. ...

09.08.2009 - ABC News [USA]
More Debt Means More Obesity, Study Says

Being in Debt Doubles Risk of Being Overweight ...

05.08.2009 - www.nanotechwire.com
Physicists from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz develop a multifunctional storage device for light

Light is intangible and, in addition, it travels at great velocity. ...

29.07.2009 - www.innovations-report.de
Physicists from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz develop a multifunctional storage device for light

Monolithic microresonator enables the controlled coupling of light and matter / Publication in Physical Review Letters ...

29.07.2009 - Nanowerk
A multifunctional storage device for light

At the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz a team of physicists led by Professor Arno Rauschenbeutel have now for the first time realized a microresonator that combines all the desired properties, i.e., long storage time, small volume, and tunability to arbitrary optical frequencies, in a single monolithic device. ...

16.07.2009 - PsychCentral
Unexplained Pain Among Depressed Patients

A new research study investigated the relatively common problem of unexplained pain or somatoform pain disorder among individuals with depression. ...

16.07.2009 - www.research-in-germany.de
Researchers from Mainz find great diversity of fungi floating in the air

The amount and diversity of fungi floating in the air are both much higher than previously thought, according to new German research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). According to the study, we breathe in between 1 and 10 fungal spores every time we inhale. The findings are important because many fungi trigger allergies, cause diseases in people and animals, and damage plants. Fungal spores also play a role in cloud formation. ...

16.06.2009 - News-Medical.Net [Australia]
Immune system's role in breast cancer

Researchers working with Dr. Marcus Schmidt in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University Medical Center Mainz have unlocked the key to the immune system’s significance in cases of breast cancer, thus identifying its long-neglected role in the prognosis of the disease. ...

12.06.2009 - www.research-in-germany.de
Environmentally compatible chemical processes: Mainz University enters into new cooperation agreement in Dalian, China

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and Chinese Academy of Sciences cooperate in research on the production of ionic liquids ...

12.06.2009 - AZoM™ - The A to Z of Materials [UK / Australia]
Joint Effort Seeks to Develop New Chemical Process Technologies

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has extended its cooperation in the field of chemistry with scientific institutions in the People's Republic of China. According to the cooperation agreement between Mainz University and the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the two partners extend their future cooperation in the development of new chemical process technologies as, for example, the production of ionic liquids. ...

10.06.2009 - www.innovations-report.de
Tubes Grow From Drops

Bismuth-catalyzed growth of tin sulfide nanotubes ...

04.06.2009 - New Scientist
Rusty space rocks could signal Mars water

"Seemingly surrounding Victoria, it is possible that [the rocks] are part of the impactor that created the crater," a team of researchers led by Christian Schröder at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, writes in an abstract presented at a recent planetary science conference. ...

04.06.2009 - Science Centric
From oxygen transport to melanin formation: Activation mechanism of key enzymes explained

Pandinus imperator, the emperor scorpion, is not only popular as a pet, but is also of interest for research purposes. The reason for this is its blue blood, which transports oxygen and distributes it throughout the body. Like tyrosinase, the key enzyme in melanin synthesis, the blue blood pigment haemocyanin found in the emperor scorpion and other arthropods belongs to a group of special molecules that occur in all organisms and that have many different functions: colouring the skin, hair and eyes, immune response, wound healing or the brown discolouration of fruit. 'When these enzymes mutate, this may result in albinism, or in birth marks when production of the pigment melanin increases, as often seen in melanoma,' explains Professor Heinz Decker of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. ...

04.06.2009 - Science Daily
Bacteria And Algae Act As Biocatalysts For Deep-sea Raw Material Deposition

The sea floor is strewn with raw materials that could be very important in the future: Manganese and iron, but also rarer and more precious elements such as cobalt, copper, zinc and nickel, are present in great quantities in the form of deep-sea nodules and crusts. The depositions of such materials from seawater and sediment is the result of a process known as biomineralization. ...

04.06.2009 - io9
Could Metal-Excreting Bacteria Avert The Next World War?

Scientists at the Institute of Physiological Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany want to prevent the next generation of international conflict over scarce natural resources. So they're trying to reverse-engineer metal-extracting bacteria. ...

13.05.2009 - Science Centric
Molecular structure could help explain albinism, melanoma

Arthropods and molluscs are Nature's true bluebloods - thanks to haemocyanin, an oxygen-carrying large protein complex, which can even be turned into the enzymatically active chemical phenoloxidase. Scientists have long known that members of the phenoloxidase family are involved in skin and hair colouring. When they are mutated, they can cause albinism - the loss of colouring in skin and hair. Produced over abundantly, they are associated with the deadly skin cancer melanoma. In an elegant structural study, a team of Baylor College of Medicine and German researchers explain how haemocyanin is activated - a finding that could lead to a better understanding of both ends of the skin and hair colour spectrum. A report of their work appears in the current issue of the journal Structure. ...

13.05.2009 - CORDIS News
Lead pollution may have kept climate cooler, study suggests

Lead particles in the atmosphere have been boosting cloud formation, a new EU-funded study reveals. Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, the researchers suggest that atmospheric lead pollution may have dampened the effects of climate change in recent decades. [...] Few would advocate pumping more lead into the atmosphere to counter the effects of global warming, as it is a highly toxic metal that is harmful to human health. 'However, with the benefit of hindsight we can now explain why there has been a trend towards more rapid temperature rises in recent years; it is because mankind has cut back its emissions of lead and sulphates,' said Professor Stephen Borrmann of Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany. ...

13.05.2009 - www.innovations-report.de
Molecular structure could help explain albinism, melanoma

Arthropods and mollusks are Nature's true bluebloods – thanks to hemocyanin, an oxygen-carrying large protein complex, which can even be turned into the enzymatically active chemical phenoloxidase. Scientists have long known that members of the phenoloxidase family are involved in skin and hair coloring. When they are mutated, they can cause albinism – the loss of coloring in skin and hair. Produced over abundantly, they are associated with the deadly skin cancer melanoma. In an elegant structural study, a team of Baylor College of Medicine and German researchers explain how hemocyanin is activated – a finding that could lead to a better understanding of both ends of the skin and hair color spectrum. A report of their work appears in the current issue of the journal Structure. ...

04.05.2009 - The China Post
Hair gone white? You're bio-bleaching your hair, experts say

Next time someone remarks on how your hair is going grey, just tell them that you're not getting old, but that instead you're simply bio-bleaching your hair with natural cellular hydrogen peroxide. Yes indeed, the very same bleach used by Jean Harlow and Marilyn Monroe to turn their mousy brown locks to platinum tresses has been found in scalp skin cells, according to a team of German researchers. ...

08.04.2009 - Labnews
...It's enough to turn you grey

UK and German researchers have now unlocked the secret of hair turning white or gray in old age. According to them, free oxygen radicals are to blame for those pesky greys. ...

07.04.2009 - readingeagle.com
German students, professors discover a bit of home on visit to Berks

University group touring local sites linked to immigrants from Palatinate region ...

16.03.2009 - Irishhealth
Epilepsy in elderly often not recognised

According to German researchers, the condition was long thought to be a disease of infancy, childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. However studies have shown that it is most common among people over the age of 75 ...

13.03.2009 - Bio-Medicine
Epilepsy in the elderly

In the new edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International [...], Konrad J. Werhahn of the Epilepsy Center of Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, presents the clinical characteristics of the disease and the therapeutic options. ...

12.03.2009 - COSMOS magazine [Australia]
Natural bleach-job: why hair turns grey

The authors of the study, from Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany and the University of Bradford in England, determined the greying process by studying cell cultures of human hair follicles. ...

11.03.2009 - World Bulletin
Natural peroxide responsible for turning hair white

Researchers found that hydrogen peroxide created by cells plays a key role in age-related loss of hair colour. ...

11.03.2009 - Science Centric
Grey hair in old age: Hydrogen peroxide inhibits the synthesis of melanin

Grey or white hair develops with advancing age in an entirely natural ageing process which results in the generation of less and less colour pigments. Researchers of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany and the University of Bradford in Great Britain have now unlocked the secret of hair turning white or grey in old age. ...

03.03.2009 - BBC News [UK]
Experts uncover cause of greyness

Scientists at Bradford University believe they have uncovered the root cause of why hair turns grey. [...] The scientists worked in collaboration with experts in Mainz and Luebeck in Germany and the discoveries have been published in the FASEB scientific journal, published by the Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology. ...

01.03.2009 - Science Centric
Old cells work differently

The agglutination and accumulation of proteins in nerve cells are major hallmarks of age-related neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease. Cellular survival thus depends on a controlled removal of excessive protein. Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have now discovered exactly how specific control proteins regulate protein breakdown during the ageing process. ...

27.02.2009 - Medical News Today
New Predictive Tool Could Be Used To Identify People At Risk Of Atrial Fibrillation

Renate Schnabel from the Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz, Germany, and Emelia Benjamin from Boston University School of Medicine in Massachusetts, USA, and colleagues, aimed to create a new way to score an individual's risk using clinical characteristics that can be easily assessed in primary care settings. ...

25.02.2009 - C&EN - Chemical and Engineering News
Chemical Beaver Tale

Horst Kunz and colleagues at the University of Mainz report the first enantioselective synthesis of an all-cis nupharamine found in the beaver's scent gland ...

24.02.2009 - Top News India
Mechanism that protects against development of Alzheimer's identified

Researchers from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have identified the mechanism that protects against the development of Alzheimer's disease ...

20.02.2009 - Photonics Online
Lasers Measure 1-Neutron Halo

Using lasers, scientists in Mainz, Germany, have precisely measured the single-neutron halo of the isotope beryllium-11 for the first time, work that may help them gain a better understanding of the forces within the atomic nucleus that bind atoms together. ...

19.02.2009 - www.research-in-germany.de
Institute of Slavic Studies of the University of Mainz inaugurates archive from the estate of Wolfgang Kasack

Private library of renowned Slavicist Wolfgang Kasack enriches the library of the Institute of Slavic Studies at Mainz University ...

17.02.2009 - Medical News Today
Mechanisms That Prevent Alzheimer's Disease: Enzymatic Activity Plays Key Role

In a project involving the collaboration of several institutes, research scientists of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have succeeded in gaining further insight in the functioning of endogenous mechanisms that protect against the development of Alzheimer's disease. ...

17.02.2009 - www.innovations-report.de
The Beaver as Chemist

Total synthesis of enantiomerically pure nupharamine alkaloids from castoreum ...

16.02.2009 - Science Centric
Mechanisms that prevent Alzheimer's disease: Enzymatic activity plays key role

In a project involving the collaboration of several institutes, research scientists of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have succeeded in gaining further insight in the functioning of endogenous mechanisms that protect against the development of Alzheimer's disease. ...

01.02.2009 - spectroscopyNOW
Getting inside bacteria with NMR

Now, scientists at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany, are figuring out how bacteria manage to assimilate readings from their environment through membranes into the cell nuclei that control their next move. ...

15.01.2009 - Journal of Nanotechnology Online
The Sixty-Four-Thousand-Dollar Question: How Signals are Transmitted Across Cell Membrane

Bacteria can occur almost anywhere on earth and exist under the most varying conditions. If these tiny, microscopic organisms are to survive in these environments, they need to be able to rapidly detect changes in their surroundings and react to them. Scientists at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz are currently investigating how bacteria manage to pass information on their environment across their membranes into their cell nuclei. ...

15.01.2009 - Science Centric
Five years of Mainz technology on Mars

On 4 January 2004, NASA's rover 'Spirit' landed safely on Mars after a seven-month voyage through space. Three weeks later, its twin 'Opportunity' also touched down unharmed on the red planet. Both these rovers were carrying investigational instruments constructed in Mainz. ...

29.12.2008 - Science Centric
Physicists at Mainz University generate ultracold neutrons at the TRIGA Reactor

For the first time ever, scientists at the TRIGA research reactor of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have determined the velocity distribution of ultracold neutrons (UCN) emitted by a deuterium ice crystal. ...

19.12.2008 - Science Daily
Between Dormancy And Self-renewal: Mouse Model Shows Blood Stem Cells In Action

Over a period of five years, scientists at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have managed to create a genetically modified mouse in which the activity of the blood stem cells can be tracked. "This mouse was created from a single embryonic stem cell. ...

18.12.2008 - News-Medical.Net [Australia]
How cancer cells ensure their survival

A team of researchers headed by Professor Roland Stauber of Mainz University's ENT clinic has identified a molecular mechanism used by cancer cells to "defend" themselves against chemotherapeutics in an attempt to ensure their own survival. ...

17.12.2008 - Science Daily
Small Molecules, Large Effect: How Cancer Cells Ensure Their Survival

A team of researchers headed by Professor Roland Stauber of Mainz University's ENT clinic has identified a molecular mechanism used by cancer cells to "defend" themselves against chemotherapeutics in an attempt to ensure their own survival. Both the messenger substance nitrogen monoxide (NO) and the protein survivin play a role in this. ...

16.12.2008 - Wildlife Extra [UK]
What determines clutch size? Tropical birds lay fewer eggs

The world is home to about 9,700 bird species. Some of them lay ten eggs in their nest, while others lay only one -Why?
Scientists from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, the University of California at San Diego and Stanford University have used a novel approach to investigate which factors are decisive for clutch size, thus presenting the first global analysis of the clutch sizes of birds. ...

15.12.2008 - Time Magazine
The Top 10 Everything of 2008

Top 10 Scientific Discoveries - 10. First Family ...

15.12.2008 - www.innovations-report.de
Between dormancy and self-renewal: Mainz mouse model shows blood stem cells in action

Over a period of five years, scientists at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have managed to create a genetically modified mouse in which the activity of the blood stem cells can be tracked. ...

12.12.2008 - Photonics Online
Investigating New Materials

The experimental setup in Mainz allows the density of the atoms and the strength of the repulsive interaction between the atoms to be tuned independently of each other. By investigating the behaviour of the atoms under compression and increasing interactions the experimentalists led by Professor Immanuel Bloch of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have been able to detect the Mott insulator in the quantum gas of the atoms. ...

09.12.2008 - Science Daily
Why Some Bird Species Lay Only One Egg

Why do some species of birds lay only one egg in their nest, while others lay 10 or more? ...

08.12.2008 - Science Daily
Wind Screen Collects Cool Air To Help Save The Rhône Glacier In Switzerland

A small wind screen has been erected on a glacier to test the concept of collecting cool air and reducing melting caused by global warming. ...

07.12.2008 - Science Centric
Wind screen on the Rhone glacier in Switzerland creates cold air cushion

By constructing a wind screen on the Rhone glacier in Switzerland, cold downwinds, which normally pass unhindered into the valley, can be intercepted and collected, thus creating a cold air cushion at the wind screen and in its close vicinity. 'Our test wind screen set up on the Rhone glacier resulted in a definite cooling of the air near the surface, with the drop in temperature being up to three degrees centigrade,' reported Professor Hans-Joachim Fuchs of the Institute of Geography of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. ...

06.12.2008 - Science Centric
Quantum simulator for complex electronic materials

In the latest issue of the journal Science researchers from the University of Mainz, the University of Cologne and the Forschungszentrum Juelich show how to simulate the properties of electrons in a real crystal by using ultracold fermionic atoms trapped in an artificial crystal formed by interfering laser beams - a so-called optical lattice. ...

05.12.2008 - Nanotechnology Now
Quantum Simulator for Complex Electronic Materials

Researchers from Mainz, Cologne and Jülich simulate complex electronic insulator with ultracold atoms in artificial crystals of light ...

04.12.2008 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Investigating new materials with ultracold atoms

The investigation of complex materials such as high-temperature superconductors is problematic because of the presence of disorder and many competing interactions in real crystalline materials. ...

19.11.2008 - The New York Times [USA]
Using a Variety of Tools, Researchers Unravel Tale of German Graves

Using DNA analysis and other techniques, Wolfgang Haak and Guido Brandt of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and colleagues have pieced together parts of the story. Their findings are in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ...

18.11.2008 - The Guardian [UK]
World's oldest nuclear family unearthed in Germany

DNA extracted from bones and teeth in a 4,600-year-old stone age burial has provided the earliest evidence for the nuclear family as a social structure ...

21.10.2008 - Science Daily
Archaeologists Uncover Ancient Governor's Palace In Turkey

Within the scope of an international rescue excavation project, a team of four archaeologists specialized in Middle Eastern affairs headed by Dr. Dirk Wicke (Institute of Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies of Mainz University) have unearthed parts of a Neo-Assyrian governor's palace dating back to the 9th to 7th century BCE in a two-month excavation program amongst the ruins on Ziyaret Tepe. The discoveries were extraordinary. ...

06.10.2008 - Deutsche Welle
Brilliant Minds - Cuban geologist Yamirka Rojas-Agramonte

Yamirka Rojas-Agramonte from Cuba is carrying out research at the University of Mainz. ...

03.09.2008 - COSMOS magazine [Australia]
Giant screen to slow glacial melt

Researchers trying to slow melting glaciers have set up a large screen in the Swiss Alps that they hope will trap cold air over the icy mass. "We hope our installations will bring about a net cooling of the area, and if the melt is not stopped, that it is at least slowed," said the project's leader, geography professor Hans-Joachim Fuchs of Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany. ...

20.08.2008 - The Independent
How catching cold mountain air could save Europe's glaciers

A German geography professor has developed a controversial system of mountain "wind-catching" screens which he claims could slow or even halt the dramatic rate at which Europe's glaciers are melting. ...

18.08.2008 - European Research Headlines (European Commission)
Cracking open pearl fraud

Over 75 years ago, Japanese innovator Kokichi Mikimoto shovelled 720 000 pearls into a burning furnace. His actions reverberated around the world and across time itself. By showing his willingness to destroy so many pearls, he made a commitment to sell only the very best and to destroy the rest. To this day, Japanese pearls demand and receive a premium. As a result, many try to pass off their pearls as Japanese, even though they may come from elsewhere. Now two scientists from Germany have developed a method to determine the birthplace of pearls. ...

18.08.2008 - Labnews
A word in your shell like...

Finding a seashell is one of the many pleasures of a summer holiday on the coast - but many people will not be aware that they have found a unique record of the climate. For one German scientist however these hard calcium shells provide a profound insight into the history of our earth and especially into the climate of the past. Professor Bernd Schöne - a palaeontologist from Mainz University - thinks that by examining shells he can reconstruct the climatic history of the past 500 years. ...

14.08.2008 - AFP
Germans try to slow glacier melt with giant screen

German researchers trying to slow melting glaciers have set up a large screen in the Swiss Alps that they hope will trap cold air over the icy mass, Johannes Gutenberg University said Thursday. ...

13.08.2008 - Science Daily
Nature Or Nurture: Are You Who Your Brain Chemistry Says You Are?

Researchers using positron emission tomography (PET) have validated a long-held theory that individual personality traits - particularly reward dependency - are connected to brain chemistry, a finding that has implications for better understanding and treating substance abuse and other addictive behaviors. ...

24.07.2008 - National Geographic
Ancient Olympic Chariot Racetrack Located?

The ancient circuit, where Olympic competitors raced in chariots or on horseback, was found in May by a team including Norbert Müller of Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. ...

22.07.2008 - Reuters
Germans find Olympic course where Nero raced chariot

German archaeologists using radar technology believe they may have discovered the ancient horse racing track at Olympia where Roman Emperor Nero bribed his way to Olympic laurels. ...

16.07.2008 - The Wall Street Journal [USA]
China Counts the Cost of Hosting the Olympics

Holger Preuss, a professor of sports economics at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, says Beijing has set a precedent that future hosts, including London, won't be able to match. "Many [International Olympic Committee] members are already thinking we have to find a way to reduce the size of the Games to make more cities able to really host the Games. Because if it continues -- just think of $50 billion -- maybe only 10 cities in the world can afford 50 billion." ...

15.07.2008 - RIAN - Russian News & Information Agency
Archaeologists find 1,600-year-old racecourse in Greece

"This discovery is an archaeological sensation," said Norbert Muller of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. ...

15.07.2008 - PhysOrg.com [UK]
Fraud with cultured pearls can be detected

Scientists at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany) advise buyers of cultured pearls to be more vigilant. "In Germany too, we are increasingly seeing Chinese sweet-water cultured pearls being marketed as Japanese, although they actually originate from China," say Dr. Dorrit Jacob and Ursula Wehrmeister of the Institute of Geosciences. ...

14.07.2008 - Science Daily
Horse Racecourse In Ancient Olympia Discovered After 1600 Years

"This discovery is an archaeological sensation," commented Norbert Müller of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. The research project extended over several weeks before being completed in the middle of May 2008. ...

10.07.2008 - www.innovations-report.de
Sedentary, but highly mobile

In Germany every second person of working age has experience with occupational mobility. Germans are considered to be sedentary and unwilling to leave their familiar surroundings, but the labour market requires more mobile and flexible workers than ever before.
...

10.07.2008 - www.innovations-report.de
Mainz University involved in new DFG Collaborative Research Center in the field of immune responses

T cells play a very important role as part of the immune system. The various types of T cells have different tasks within the immune response. If this defense system fails, conditions such as allergies and autoimmune diseases can develop. The German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft - DFG) has now approved a research application submitted by laboratories in Würzburg, Berlin and Mainz, the purpose of which is to investigate how genetic control determines the development and function of the various T cells. ...

10.07.2008 - Science Centric
On the mechanisms of myelin formation in the central nervous system

To allow nerve cells to transmit information efficiently over long distances, advanced life forms have developed a mechanism known as saltatory conduction. This is made possible by an insulating sheath of myelin that forms at certain intervals around the axonal extensions of nerve cells that specialise in the transmission of stimuli. Two projects undertaken by the Department of Molecular Cell Biology of the Faculty of Biology at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz have now made a significant contribution towards understanding these complex cellular processes. ...

09.07.2008 - Science Daily
Shells Form Unique Climate Archive On The Ocean Floor

For Professor Bernd Schöne of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, hard calcium shells provide a profound insight into the history of our earth and especially into the climate of the past. "We are currently able to reconstruct the climatic history of the past 500 years from shells on a year-by-year basis. Thus we can demonstrate, for example, that the North Sea has become one degree warmer over the past hundred years, probably an effect attributable to humans," explains the palaeontologist from Mainz. ...

05.06.2008 - Science Daily
The Protein IRF4 Takes Control Of Inflammation In The Gut

New insight into the molecular mechanisms controlling IL-6 production in a mouse model of IBDs has now been provided by Markus Neurath and colleagues, at the University of Mainz, Germany, and might lead to the development of new drugs to treat individuals with IBDs. ...

03.06.2008 - www.innovations-report.de
DFG Establishes Eight New Collaborative Research Centres

On 01 July 2008, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish eight new Collaborative Research Centres (CRC). These will be funded initially for four years with a total of €59.5 million. In addition, there will be a 20 percent programme lump sum for each one for indirect costs resulting from the research projects. ...

06.03.2008 - Deutsche Welle
Juggling Ultra-Cold Atoms

Though he’s just 32 years old, Immanuel Bloch is already a professor of physics at the University of Mainz. He’s an expert on a state of matter that was predicted by Albert Einstein -- Bose-Einstein condensation. ...

10.01.2008 - The Telegraph [UK]
Nuclear power 'increases child leukaemia risk'

Researchers at the University of Mainz, who are responsible for the German Register of Child Cancers, identified 593 cases of children aged under five-years-old diagnosed with leukaemia between 1980 and 2003. They also selected 1,766 healthy controls in the same age group. The scientists found children living within 3.1 miles (5km) of a nuclear power station were over twice - 2.19 times - as likely to be diagnosed with leukaemia as those living outside that zone. ...

18.12.2007 - www.innovations-report.de
Polymerization From the Individual Molecule’s Point of View

Following radical polymerization with single-molecule spectroscopy of fluorescing probes. [...] A Belgian and German team from the University of Leuwen and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz has now been able to follow polymerizations from the point of view of individual molecules. As they report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, Johan Hofkens and his team used the techniques of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and far-field microscopy to observe fluorescing sample molecules throughout the entire process of the radical polymerization of styrene. ...

09.10.2007 - News-Medical.Net [Australia]
How does THC work?

Using an advanced genetic approach, Krisztina Monory and colleagues at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz discovered that specific neuronal subpopulations mediate the distinct effects of THC. Their work is published online this week in the open-access journal PLoS Biology. ...

18.09.2007 - Science Daily
Accepted Notion Of Neutron's Electrical Properties Overturned By New Research

For two generations of physicists, it has been a standard belief that the neutron, an electrically neutral elementary particle and a primary component of an atom, actually carries a positive charge at its center and an offsetting negative charge at its outer edge. [...] The findings are based on data collected at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, Va., the Bates Linear Accelerator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Mainz Microtron at Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany. ...

30.08.2007 - The Telegraph [UK]
Secret tapes of top Nazis

Richard Overy reviews Tapping Hitler's Generals: Transcripts of Secret Conversations, 1942-45 ed by Sönke Neitzel [...] Sönke Neitzel, a professor at the University of Mainz, has edited a volume of key extracts from the tape-recorded discussions and there is no doubt that they are of much more service to the historian than they ever were to British Intelligence. ...

23.08.2007 - The New York Times [USA]
Scientists Induce Out-of-Body Sensation

Using virtual reality goggles, a camera and a stick, scientists have induced out-of-body experiences - the sensation of drifting outside of one’s own body - in healthy people, according to experiments being published in the journal Science. ...

20.08.2007 - www.innovations-report.de
Effectiveness of mouse breeds that mimic Alzheimer's disease symptoms questioned

Scientists have shown that recently developed mouse breeds that mimic the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) may not be as effective as previously assumed. Sascha Weggen, Professor of Molecular Neuropathology at Heinrich-Heine-University, Duesseldorf, Germany; lead author Eva Czirr, Ph.D. student at the University of Mainz, Germany; and colleagues show in the August 24 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry that in some mouse breeds, drugs that had been shown to reduce levels of a toxic protein called amyloid beta had only minor or no effect on these mice. ...

20.06.2007 - Medical News Today
Progress Toward An Antitumor Vaccine

A team led by Horst Kunst at the University of Mainz has now found a way to bind a molecule that is typical for tumors to a carrier protein without irritating the immune system. As they report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, their method is based on an immunocompatible connection by way of a sulfur atom, namely, a thioether. ...

09.06.2007 - Deutsche Welle
Study: World Cup Continues to Boost German Economy

In World Cup year, GDP - the total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country - rose by €3.233 billion, according to the study by the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. ...

07.06.2007 - AsiaOne [Singapore]
Sun exposure may reduce malignant lymphoma risk

At last, some positive health effects of sitting in the sun! Physicians have found that recreational sun exposure is apparently associated with reduced risk for cancers of the lymph system, or malignant lymphomas, German researchers report in the International Journal of Cancer. They also found that the association is stronger for some types of lymphoma than for others. [...] Dr. Thomas Weihkopf from Johannes-Gutenberg University, Mainz, and colleagues therefore examined the relationship between malignant lymphoma and lifetime exposure to UV in different settings, including outdoor leisure activities, vacations, sunbed use and occupational exposures. ...

06.06.2007 - Science Daily
Hypothyroidism Clearly Linked To Mood Swings

Hypothyroidism is often associated with mood changes like depression lethargy. Researchers, studying underlying brain processes in search of "why" this happens, reported their results at the 54th Annual Meeting of SNM, the world's largest society for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine professionals. ...

05.06.2007 - EurekAlert.com
DFG approves 11 new Collaborative Research Centers

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish eleven new Collaborative Research Centres (SFBs) on 1 July 2007. They will receive a total of €75.5 million in funding over the next four years. Research conducted in the centres will include work on the reconstruction of biological body functions using versatile "molecular switches" and innovative optical technology. Four of the new SFBs will be Transregional Collaborative Research Centres, which are located at multiple sites. ...

13.05.2007 - Toronto Star
The strategic advantage of being able to drink milk

Scientists at Mainz University in Germany took bones from eight people who had lived between 7,000 and 8,000 years ago in parts of Europe where cow herding was already common. The scientists managed to extract enough undamaged DNA to test for the lactose-tolerance mutation. They found that none of the people carried the mutation. That means it's very unlikely that lactose tolerance was widespread by that time. Otherwise, it's probable that at least some of the people tested would have carried the mutation. ...

17.03.2007 - www.innovations-report.de
Researchers identify molecular basis of inflammatory bowel disease

Researchers from the Universities of Cologne and Mainz in Germany, the Mouse Biology Unit of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Italy and their collaborators, have now deciphered a molecular signal that triggers chronic intestinal inflammation. The study, which is published in the current online issue of Nature, shows that blocking a signaling molecule causes severe intestinal inflammation in mice and reveals a molecular mechanism that is likely to also underpin human inflammatory bowel disease. ...

27.02.2007 - The Telegraph [UK]
Milk allergy 'caused by Stone Age genes'

The rival idea, that dairy farming was pioneered by a small group of Neolithic farmers who were able to tolerate milk, is overturned by the genetic study by a team from University College London and Mainz University, Germany. ...

26.02.2007 - National Geographic
Stone Age Adults Couldn't Stomach Milk, Gene Study Shows

Milk wasn't on the Stone Age menu, says a new study which suggests the vast majority of adult Europeans were lactose intolerant as recently as 7,000 years ago. [...] The study was led by Joachim Burger of the Institute of Archaeology at Mainz University in Germany. ...

15.01.2007 - Medical News Today
Protecting Nerves During Surgery

An alarm tone warns the surgeon that the position of his scalpel is dangerously close to the nerve leading to the patient's vocal cords - the beep tone signals excessive pressure on the nerve. [...] The new alarm system combines the skills of numerous research partners. The Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT was joined by the University Hospital in Mainz and the Robert Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart, along with the companies Dr. Osypka GmbH, Reinhardt Microtech GmbH and Inomed Medizintechnik GmbH. The project was one of the winners of the 2006 innovation competition for medical engineering. ...

18.12.2006 - Washington Post [USA]
Tinnitus Type Affects Severity, Symptoms

"In particular, higher levels of severity were found in men, older adults, binaural (in both ears) and centrally perceived tinnitus, increase in tinnitus sensitivity since onset, sensitivity to loud external noise, continuous tinnitus (as opposed to intermittent tinnitus), and the coexistence of hearing loss, vertigo and hyperacusis (abnormal sensitivity to sounds)," wrote the team from the University of Mainz and the Roseneck Center of Behavioral Medicine in Prien. ...

19.08.2006 - Medical News Today
Brain's Cannabinoid System 'mellows' Seizures

The same brain machinery that responds to the active substance in marijuana provides a central "on-demand" protection against seizures, researchers have found. [...] The findings were published by Beat Lutz and Giovanni Marsicano, of Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry and Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, and colleagues in the August 2006, issue of the journal Neuron, published by Cell Press.
...

28.03.2006 - Deutsche Welle
Europe's Role in Middle East Waning

As part of the Middle East Quartet, Germany and the EU have a vested interest in the Israeli elections. German Middle East expert Günter Meyer, however, says that the influence on Israel's policies is waning. ...

23.02.2006 - The Telegraph [UK]
Lump above eye that 'killed Shakespeare'

Shakespeare scholarship, lively at the best of times, saw the fur flying yesterday after a German academic claimed to have authenticated not just one but four contemporary images of the playwright - and suggested, to boot, that he had died of cancer. As the National Portrait Gallery planned to reveal that only one of half a dozen claimed portraits of William Shakespeare can now be considered genuine, Professor Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel said she could prove that there were at least four surviving portraits of the playwright. ...

27.01.2006 - The Guardian [UK]
Germany agonises over 30% childless women

"Compulsory paid leave for fathers is a good idea," Professor Norbert Schneider, a sociologist at Mainz University, told the Guardian. "Germany now has the highest number of childless women in the world. This trend has been going on since at least the 90s. What we also know is that the higher the level of education, the more likely a woman is to remain childless." ...

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