[Medicine and literature: "Nobel Prize. No jokes please!" : Gottfried Benn and his nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature]. / Medizin und Literatur: "Nobelpreis. Bitte keine Witze!" : Gottfried Benn und seine Nominierungen für den Literaturnobelpreis.

In the early 1950s, the German poet and physician Gottfried Benn was repeatedly nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Drawing on sources from the archive of the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, this essay discusses how Benn was portrayed as a Nobel nominee. His sponsors highlighted not only why he was a remarkable author, but also his national socialist links during the 1930s. The study is part of a new interdisciplinary project that analyses nominations and committee reports for physician and natural scientist candidates for the Nobel Prize in Literature from 1901 to 1970.

Recycling of MSWI-bottom ash in paved constructions in Sweden - A risk assessment.

This paper presents results from a risk assessment of recycling pre-treated bottom ash from municipal solid waste incineration as a subbase layer in certain asphalt paved constructions in Sweden. Based on a model for assessing environmental and health risks at contaminated areas, previously developed by the Swedish EPA and by the Swedish Geotechnical Institute, target values for total content and porewater concentrations were calculated. Three different construction sizes and geometries were considered; a 1 km long road of 10 and 20 m width, respectively, and an application of 100 × 300 m. Additionally, different technical solutions of the use of bottom as in road embankments were considered. Compared to risk assessments conducted in other countries, target values are generally higher, but in the same order of magnitude. Total lead concentrations in dust potentially emitted during construction and demolition of the bottom ash is identified as a critical factor. It requires particular attention when planning for or carrying out groundwork constructions with pre-treated bottom ash. As exposure to dust and bioavailaibility of lead in bottom ash are likely to be overestimated by the underlying risk model, higher target values for lead in bottom ash should be possible for the envisaged construction purposes without affecting the general risk level. As no data is available on actual dust production and deposition by constructing and demolishing subbase layers of pre-treated bottom ash, this should be a part of future studies in order to narrow down lead target values.

[Carl Posner (1854-1928) : A founder of urology and sexology in Germany]. / Carl Posner (1854­1928) : Ein Begründer der Urologie und Sexualwissenschaft in Deutschland.

In this contribution we describe the life and work of the Berlin physician Carl Posner (1854-1928). We present his central role as a member of the founding generation of urology, andrology, and academic sexology in Germany. His clinical work, research and publication illustrate the central role these new disciplines played in the urological field. Finally, we describe how Posner is remembered in the history of urology and sexology.

["Why visit a medical congress?" : Knowledge transfer between Germany and Sweden using the example of the 1929 DGU meeting in Munich]. / "Warum besucht man Kongresse?" : Deutsch-schwedischer Wissenstransfer am Beispiel des DGU-Kongresses in München 1929.

Drawing on contemporary publications in German and Swedish/Scandinavian journals and biographies as well as conference proceedings of the German Society of Urology (DGU), this paper examines the Swedish impressions of the 1929 DGU meeting in Munich. It focusses on why the Swedish delegates visited the congress and how they evaluated their congress experiences for their Scandinavian peers. Finally, the article shows to what extent a knowledge transfer from the DGU Congress to Sweden took place.

[The 69th Congress-urologists nominated for the Nobel Prize : Not everyone got a prize: four biographical sketches]. / Zum 69. Kongress ­ Urologen waren für den Nobelpreis nominiert : Preise gab es nicht für alle: Vier biographische Skizzen.

Our research group has reconstructed why the board certified urologists Werner Forssmann (1904-1979) and Charles Huggins (1901-1997) received the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine (1956, and 1966, respectively). But the history of "Urology and the Nobel Prize" is in fact more multifaceted than the success stories of these two laureates suggest. James Israel (1848-1926), Berlin, Félix Guyon (1831-1920), Paris, Peter J. Freyer (1852-1921), London and Edwin Beer (1876-1938), New York were nominated for the award during the first three decades of the 20th century. Their candidacies mirror trends among leading urologists during the time when urology became a specialty in its own right.

[Involuntary sterilization of men in the Third Reich using the example of the surgical clinic in Göttingen from 1934-1944]. / Zwangssterilisierung von Männern im Dritten Reich am Beispiel der Chirurgischen Klinik in Göttingen 1934-1944.

The German Law for Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring (Das Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses) was enacted in 1933. It allowed forced sterilization of patients who had been diagnosed with certain so-called hereditary diseases. Drawing on patient files from the city of Göttingen, this article provides new research results about the practice of forced sterilization of men in the Third Reich. Results show that around 1000 men were sentenced to sterilization by the local hereditary health court (Erbgesundheitsgericht). In this article, some aspects of the operation and "refertilization" are reconstructed.

[From Nobody to Nobel laureate? The case of Werner Forßmann]. / Vom Nobody zum Nobelpreisträger? Der Fall Werner Forßmann.

The surgeon and urologist Werner Forßmann (1904-1979) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1956. At the time of the prize ceremony, several newspapers portrayed Forssmann as an unknown rural physician who suddenly had become an international star. Drawing on nominations and reports in the Nobel Prize Archive for Physiology or Medicine in Stockholm as well as correspondence from the private archive of the Forßmann family, this paper reconstructs why the Nobel Committee chose to award Forßmann. We show that Forssmann's work was appreciated in medical textbooks and that he enjoyed a relatively sound reputation in the international scientific community even before he became a Nobel Prize laureate. At a more general level, we use his example to explore some mechanisms of scientific recognition.

The 'Führerschule' in Alt Rehse: A character school for the physicians of National Socialist Germany.

This contribution traces the international contacts and impact of the leader school for German doctors ('Führerschule der deutschen Arzteschaft') in Alt Rehse 1935-1943 through studies of a visitors' book and of biographies.We suggest that the 'Föhrerschule', an institution providing political and ideological education for health professionals, interested non-German physicians to a larger extent than earlier described. This paper also highlights a few examples of non-German physicians who, for various reasons, visited the 'Führerschule' in Alt Rehse.

Enterotoxigenic enteric bacteria in foods and outbreaks of food-borne diseases in Sweden.

All of 86 food routinely examined for potentially pathogenic enteric bacteria were found to harbour one or more coliform species. None of the strains isolated produced heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) or showed invasive properties. The suckling mouse test indicated that one strain of Escherichia coli produced heat-stable enterotoxin (ST). Twelve incidents of suspected food poisoning were also investigated. In two of them the foods examined contained LT-producing strains of E. coli and in two there were LT-producing strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae. The counts of viable enterotoxigenic micro-organisms in these foods were 3000-30,000 E. coli/g and 50,000 to 1 million K. pneumoniae/g. The dominant symptom in all the incidents was watery diarrhoea. These seem to be the first reported cases of foodborne enterotoxigenic enteric bacteria in Europe. Though enterotoxigenic E. coli and related gram-negative enterotoxin-producing species are rare in correctly handled food in Sweden, these micro-organisms should be searched for when outbreaks of food poisoning are investigated.