[Splinters and germs of thought. Freud's notebooks from 1901 till 1910].

The authors discovered a series of small notebooks from the years 1901-1915 in the Freud Collection of the Library of Congress (two of them being not yet accessible). The article provides a first impression of their form, content and characteristics. Some events in Freud's life and his preoccupation with certain matters can now be dated more precisely; some ideas can be related to the treatment of certain patients; the origins of certain metapsychological theories can be pursued.

[Best interests in the 'vegetative state'].

Treatment decisions for patients in the vegetative state often have to be based on the patient's best interests, if the patient's will is not known. Physicians are, however, highly uncertain what kind of treatment is in such a difficult situation the patient's best interests. This article presents new insights from neuroscience and shows how treatment decision making should proceed to reach an ethically justified decision.

[Plagiarism techniques in practice journal Johannes Franc (1649–1725) and copying practice illustrated by urology texts].

In the seventeenth century it was customary in medicine to copy texts from other authors without citing the source. This practice is illustrated by the diary of Johannes Franc (1649–1725), a physician in the city of Ulm, who handwrote a practice journal in Latin and German Gothic script entering text passages plagiarized as follows: he reproduced them almost word for word in order to pass them off as his own experiences, used them as a model for his prescriptions and as a template for his case histories, and integrated them into his work to support his argumentation. In addition, he summarized texts from various sources, refined them by omitting portions, and incorporated his own experiences for embellishment.

[Skyblue - the cyanometer of Horace-Bénédict de Saussure (1740 - 1799)].

The cyanometer is a simply constructed measuring instrument that enables a determination of skyblue. It consists of a color-scale that is arranged circularly going in equal steps from white to blue (Prussian blue) and finally into black. According to its inventor--Horace-Bénédict de Saussure--the azure is determined by the amount of so called opaque vapors in the atmosphere associated with meteorological phenomena.

[LONI & Co: about the epistemic specificity of digital spaces of knowledge in cognitive neuroscience].

In the neurosciences digital databases more and more are becoming important tools of data rendering and distributing. This development is due to the growing impact of imaging based trial design in cognitive neuroscience, including morphological as much as functional imaging technologies. As the case of the 'Laboratory of Neuro Imaging' (LONI) is showing, databases are attributed a specific epistemological power: Since the 1990s databasing is seen to foster the integration of neuroscientific data, although local regimes of data production, -manipulation and--interpretation are also challenging this development.

[Genetic testing in occupational medicine--conflicts and arguments within a historical perspective].

The article examines the positions and discussions on genetic testing in occupational medicine within a historical perspective. In the process, it shows a continuity of views regarding occupational medicine and its diagnostic approaches. While labor representatives mainly opposed the possibilities of genetic testing and particularly emphasized its selective nature, physicians stressed the preventive possibilities but nevertheless realized the importance of federal regulation.

[German Urological Associations under National Socialism].

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Urologie (German Urological Association), established in 1907, was a German-Austrian medical society in which Jewish physicians held important positions. When the Nazis seized power in 1933, the Austrian Hans Rubritius was president of the society. The non-German presidency and the exclusion of Jewish colleagues from the professional society and medical practice led to a halt of the society's activities.

[Seeing sounds? The visualization of acoustic phenomena in heart diagnostics].

During the nineteenth century physiologists and clinicians developed several graphical recording systems for the mechanical registration of heart sounds. However, none of these replaced traditional methods of auscultation. The paper describes criticism of the aural sense as one of the driving forces behind the development of phonocardiography and analyses its variants from a technological and clinical perspective.

Pilot project "Patient-Safety" in Medical Education.

Since the summer term 2009 the study project "Patientensicherheit - Der klinische Umgang mit Patienten- und Eingriffsverwechslungen sowie Medikationsfehlern" (Patient Safety - the clinical handling of patients - and mistaking of procedures as well as medication errors) is offered within the Modellstudiengang Medizin. Seminars on patient safety in Germany so far mainly address trained doctors and health economists. In contrast, this study project on patient safety should at an early stage contribute to a "culture of discussing and preventing mistakes" - an aspect that is little established in clinical medicine, but also in medical training.

[Jewish urologists in Hamburg: eight biographies from Imperial Germany to Nazi Germany].

Before the Nazis seized power in 1933, eight Jewish urologists practiced in the city of Hamburg: Otto Einzig, Moritz Fürst, Ernst Fränkel, Wilhelm Haas, Friedrich Lührse, Paul Rosenberg, Sigmund Wertheim and Erich Wohlauer. This contribution traces their lives and careers. One of them was murdered at the Theresienstadt concentration camp and seven emigrated to the USA, Sweden and South Africa.

[Gaining insight--visualization of the invisible in urology: on the history of the technique and evidence in urological endoscopy].

The tactile inspection of the bladder had a long tradition in urology. Examination results and their interpretation depended heavily on the individual tactile skills of the urologist. Because this examination method (if correctly applied) proved the artistic skills and experience of a doctor, urologists did not see any need to replace tactile examinations with a competing method.

[Neuropathological research on organs of patients of the "Heil- und pflegeanstalt" (state hospital) Günzburg].

Background: The two Kaiser Wilhelm-Institutes (KWI) in Berlin (1914, new building 1931) and in Munich (1917, new building 1926-28), specialized on pathologic anatomical as well as psychiatric genetic research, were set up before times of National Socialism.

Methods: Data evaluation is based on patient documents and annual reports of the archive of today's district hospital Günzburg and on patient documents (copies) of the historical archive of today's Max-Planck Institute of Psychiatry.

Results: The KWI in Munich was indirectly provided with brain material by Bavarian "Heil- und Pflegeanstalten" (state hospitals) including the state hospital Günzburg.

[Data transparency - an ethical imperative? Approaching the issues].

Several studies show that the findings of clinical trials are often not published in full, resulting in a biased presentation of results (publication bias). First, this paper discusses the ethical arguments in favour of complete transparency of biomedical research data. There are relevant deontological (like obligations towards study participants and research sponsors) and consequentialist (harm for patients and misallocation of scarce resources) ethical reasons for the full publication of all trial results, which cannot be overridden by counter arguments like freedom of research, data protection or the individual interests of researchers and manufacturers.

[Is there any correlation between the increase of knowledge and specialisation in medicine? Looking back on anaesthesia].

Since the middle of the 19th century medical knowledge was increasing enormously. According to this differentiation medical specialisation was necessary and began at the Deutschen Ärztetag 1924. The recommendation for a specialist for anaesthesia was fulfilled with the introduction of the Facharzt für Anästhesie.

[National socialism health policy and the Aachen region reflected in the "West German Observer"].

The article deals with the question of medicine in the time of the Nazi regime in Germany. It focuses on the question how the media in the "Third Reich" took up the subject "medicine" in general and which aspects were notably mentioned. The footing of this research is the "Westdeutscher Beobachter" and its local edition for the region and the city of Aachen.

[Forced sterilisation based on the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring. The role of the Heil- und Pflegeanstalt (State Hospital) Günzburg].

Objective: From 1934 to 1945, 350,000-400,000 human beings were sterilised by force in the German Reich. Forced sterilisation was based on the Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses (Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring). The Heil- und Pflegeanstalt (State Hospital) Günzburg was one of the institutions where compulsory sterilisation was practised.

[From "schizophrenia" to "disturbance of the integrity of the self": causes and consequences of renaming schizophrenia in Japan in 2002].

In August 2002 the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology decided to rename the Japanese expression for schizophrenia from Sêshin Bunretsu Byô to Tôgô Shicchô Shô. Currently the psychiatric classification systems ICD-10 and DSM-IV are under revision. Against this background the Japanese process of renaming a psychiatric disorder is of high interest as far as the clinical, social and cultural implications of the new name are concerned.

[The "good doctor". Physicians' morality and the self-conception of medicine since the early modern period].

The article examines the historical change in medical ethics since the beginning of the early modern period, drawing on normative sources, mostly of German origin. The theoretical frame of reference is provided by historical moral sociology and the history of the modernisation, as expounded in Niklas Luhmann's system theory. In a first step, evidence for the change in the moral codes of the various social systems (science, economy etc.

[Shamanism as medical prevention? A case study from Ladakh, Northwest-India].

Relating to a research project in the trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh, Northwest-India, the paper examines indications that the shamanic vocation and practice grew significantly in this region. The author tries to link this increase to severe psychological pressures imposed by the heavy presence of the Indian Army, political and administrative ties to the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir (with a predominantly Muslim population), and the region's status as a popular tourist destination. The paper argues that shamanic rituals performed by so-called oracles that embody deities of the Buddhist pantheon in trance (lhamo, lhapa) not only provide important services of healing and divination, they contribute significantly to medical prevention in times of growing competition and the deterioration of value systems.

How to make sense of broadly applied medical classification systems: introducing epistemic hubs.

What are medical classification systems good for? Taking this question as a starting point, this paper argues that different answers have to be given depending on the scope of application of the classification system. While the use of restricted and specialised classification systems can be described rather well with the existing scientific taxonomy account, this account falls short to make sense of the function that systems play that are heterogeneous and imprecise but broadly applied, such as the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health-Related Problems (ICD). Given that the causal complexity and inter-individual heterogeneity of disease manifestation and progression challenge obtaining unambiguous, universally applicable definitions of the units of classification, this paper aims to introduce a pluralist account that relies on the concept of "epistemic hubs.

[Socialistic university policy between demand and reality--the example of Hans Heygster at the Rostock University Hospital of Psychiatry and Neurology].

The extent and boundaries of political influence are a central issue in the history of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). After 1945 socialist leaders attempted to exert political influence on education in the Soviet occupied zone and the later GDR. The Second University Reform in 1951/52 introduced a fundamental break with established university structures.

[Controversial interpretations of the Lorsch medical codex].

Next to the late Heinrich Schipperges, Gundolf Keil, M.D. and Ph.