Author: KS

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Phase Shifting

The Berlin “Hamburger Bahnhof Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart” recently acquired “Phase Shifting Index” by Jeremy Shaw. As part of an exhibition of new acquisitions, Sam Bardaouil, the director of the museum and curator of this exhibition has installed the large-scale video and sound installation at the end of the long corridor of the “Rieckhallen”. The impressive, even overwhelming art work was created in 2020. It was first shown at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
The piece consists of seven large suspended screensand creates a space like in dance club, discotheque or dance studio. The visual and sound experience is allmost psychedelic. The near obsessional dancing shown on the screens represent different periods of dancing with their particular patterns of movements and choreographies. The phase of the electromagnetic waves is shifting from one screen to the other and towards the end of the performances it becomes clear, that they all follow a similar wave or rave pattern. Sublimation or ecstasy are the underlying index-like common traits. Each period or decade 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, all had their peculiar dance and movement patterns. The video-installation is like a history of art of expression through body movement, amplified and indexed through rhythm and sound.
Electromagnetic waves can be characterized through wave shifting in various forms. This work gives us a feeling for the fascination of movement and phase shifting emotions. Don’t worry, the immersion ends after 10+ minutes and, if you like, you might read up on the physics of electromagnetic waves and phase shifting to calm you down.
Images: “Phase Shifting Index” by Jeremy Shaw, 2020, Berlin, Hamburger Bahnhof, 2024-9

 

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Scorched earth

The Russian military strategy in Ukraine is yet another example of scorched earth. Upon retreat the space is left in a devastated state. Worst of all are the land mines that kill or mutilate even after the immediate danger has passed. The logic in the Russian aggression in Ukraine is particularly strange as the Russians were arguing this is their land and claim the people living there were mostly Russians. The retreat of Russian troops eventually will leave huge territories scorched. The destruction of energy infrastructure is also clearly targeting the population at large to make entire regions difficult to live or survive in during the approaching cold winter months. Decentralized energy provision rather than huge power plants have become a survival strategy for Ukraine and probably its neighboring countries. Sensitivity to the dangers of scorched earth is important to get priorities right for relief.

Artists sometimes show us the way ahead with bright colors, if only we were able to see or understand the signs or signals. (Image extract from Mark Bradford “Scorched Earth”, SMB Berlin, National Gallerie der Gegenwart im Hamburger Bahnhof, 2024-9)

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Ukraine Chess

Strategies in Chess, sometimes, inform strategic behavior in wars. In chess there are clear definitions of 2 opponents and their material. Modern warfare has blurred both elements. Opposing parties build alliances and the material allowed or available is hotly debated as well. The war of Russia on Ukraine territory, nevertheless, resembles a variant of a chess game considering the different stages of the game. All starts with Russia choosing its opening attacks. A rather aggressive version of the opening is the King’s Gambit in which a fast attack tries to overwhelm the opponent. Ukraine, because of the surprise and lack of immediate support from neighboring countries, chose a careful defense trying to hold the lines amid a fast forward moving assault. A further restriction for Ukraine was to not use weapons from supporters on Russian territory. In chess this would mean your defense is not allowed to cross the middle line of the chessboard. For example the so-called Sicilian defense does exactly this for many moves of the opening. However, in the middle game this changes and the defense might prepare forceful attacks based on a solid defense. With 2 and 1/2 years into the war the opening has played out and we see middle game strategies take the upper hand. In chess this consist in attempts to gain material advantage, possession of strategically important positions and psychological stamina to mention a few. The middle game can drag out for a long time, especially if a balance of power persists. Even in an unbalanced situation peacemaking takes time as well. In any case, during the opening phase the “Sicilian” defense can handle a defense that is restricted to “own half” of the chessboard, but in the middle phase such a restriction is an even more severe impediment. Relaxing this imposed restriction by supporters opens up additional possibilities for the defense as well as counter strikes. (Image: Shredder Chess App White opens with Kings Gambit and Black answers with Sicilian defense)

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Walking Danger

Autumn brings color into nature. This is for some the bright side of life. However, the sun sets much earlier every day and many people begin to walk to school or work and back during the dark time of the day. Unfortunately, this entails an additional danger to those walking the cities as bad light conditions cause many accidents of pedestrians. The statistics provided by Destatis (2024) for Germany show a marked increase of walking accidents from September onwards and lasting throughout winter. Equip yourself with bright colors and reflectors to avoid being a walker in danger or a walking danger. On Sunday it is pretty safe to go for a stroll. City life is less stressful and professionals in a hurry usually take a rest on that day. The conclusion is to choose your track wisely in order to feel safe on weekdays.

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Innovation Painting

Innovations have fascinated painters just as much as photographers. The impressionists have painted trains and steel bridges as well as modern city life. Innovations change the atmosphere of a situation and new forms of transportation have been admired for many decades. Artists and painters have dealt with this phenomenon in various ways. Either the innovations have puzzled the normal vision of people or things or the artists hinted at curiosities or incompatibilities. Gustave Courbet has depicted in a unique style (Realism), as early as 1865, a seated woman with a paddle on something similar to a catamaran. It is maybe surprising that the modern form of stand-up paddling looks a little bit like the „podoscaphe“ painted by Courbet. Innovations in sports continue to evolve and become part of Olympic Games as well. Some disciplines make it into the Olympic canon rapidly, others never make it. The exhibition of „Artists and Sport“ gave ample opportunities to reflect on the the relationship of artists and innovations as well. (Image Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris 2024, Extrait de Gustave Courbet, Femme au Podoscaphe. 1865)

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Waiting time

A new report by Darzi, a former cancer surgeon and past minister of health in the UK, paints a dismal picture of the British health service (NHS) over the last 15 years under conservative rule. The public service has seen no increase in its budget accounting for population growth and the aging of the population. The service is no longer able “to give patients the timely care they need” (The Guardian 2024-9-12 title page). Increased waiting times lead to an estimated 14.000 premature deaths per year. Darzi presents data that show 300.000 persons had to wait longer than one year for a treatment that should have been performed within 18 weeks.

The staff seems desperate for changes as well as they have to spend more time on management of waiting times, time which is lost for real treatment. The quality of care is another issue which awaits urgent attention. Health cannot wait for most patients, but the neglect of investment in hospitals and people is expensive in the longer run. Even the reform efforts should not wait any longer. Time is a precious good and each life matters. (Image back cover of exhibition catalogue Käthe Kollwitz at MOMA 2024).

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International Geometry

Geometric forms sometimes serve to make international affairs more transparent or descriptive. The Weimar triangle is such a formula, which helps to show the links between states. In the journal “Le Monde” of 2024-9-13 an interview with Radoslaw Sikorski reflects the shifting side lengths and military weights within this triangle. The Polish Minister of foreign affairs points at the threats from Russia to violate the air space of Poland and the legitimacy of Poland and the Ukraine, of course, to defend its air space and territorial sovereignty. The guarantee of international law, however, is heavily dependent upon adequate international geometry beyond the Weimar triangle. The meeting with a representative of the Pentagon (US) enlarges the scope of the triangle.

Talking about the reach of missiles in defense is yet another exercise in geometry as this depends on starting and supposed, or reachable, end points. The use of GPS-signals in civilian and military applications is another example of how geometry is ruling our modern lives. Let’s embrace it, rather than shun away from the geometry behind it. (Image Exhibition room at Wiels Art Centre, Brussels 2023).

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Health GDP

A report by the WHO and the World Bank (2023) on universal health coverage and financial hardship has emphasized the difficulties to reach the goals defined by the strategic development goals (SDGs) by 2030 in this policy field. Moreover, the paper by Mazzucato and Ghebreyesus (2024) invites us to reconsider the importance of health in the overall assessment of development and progress. The authors ask us to “rethink the narrow focus on growth in gross domestic product (GDP) that typically dominates economic decision making”. There is of course a long debate on the status of health, GDP or wellbeing as major policy issues or even foundations of the a state’s major objective. For economists the question has been answered for decades to favor GDP growth and more or less the other objectives can be achieved with a time delay. Recently social scientists have highlighted the overall importance of wellbeing or happiness rather than GDP as stated in some constitutions. Health as an overall objective is another challenge to the existing economic framing of societies. In a traditional economic perspective the health sector is part of the GDP increasing public and private sector of the economy with insurers, equipment and persons contributing to it. On the other hand, health enters into the distribution or consumption part of the economy. Each country strikes its own balance between production and consumption. Put simply, in form of an equation where production equals consumption, health enters on both sides of the equation in each country. On the global, scale the distribution between costs and benefits of health have not narrowed over the past. The challenge for the world population remains steep. Considering unequal population growth across continents, the situation might get worse before it hopefully gets better. We still have to continue huge efforts to increase overall health on earth for example through large scale vaccination programs. (Image The tombstone of Molière in Paris 2024)

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Desertification

Since 2018 we have evidence of the progression of desertification into some Member States of the European Union. The mediterranean countries are concerned as well as regions of Bulgaria and Romania near the Black Sea. There are multiple sources of desertification. The 3 main reasons of desertification are soil erosion, loss of soil fertility and loss of natural and desirable vegetation besides wind or water erosion and salinization. We also know that man-made climate change is at the root of the past and recent problems. The statistical indicators of land degradation are collected by the European Joint Research Centre and these data show a dismal picture of land degradation in general and desertification as part of this process. A study by Ilea et al. published in Nature 2024 projects an intensification of extreme weather in the coming years. Higher temperatures will most likely enhance desertification and more frequent flooding will contribute to more soil erosion as well. It is a rather strange process that we know we are creating severe problems for some regions which endanger the roots of their existence and yet we do not act upon those undeniable facts (United Nations SDGs list). The amount and dynamics of land deterioration put the global South under severe pressure, but also the wealthy parts of the Mediterranean basin will be affected. It about time to acknowledge that we are all part of the global changes and challenges. (Image palm tree in Paris, Jardin du Luxembourg, 2024)

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Heat Stress

Heat causes cardiovascular and pulmonary stress. This has been well-known for a long time. A newly published epidemiological study for Germany reiterates this finding and adds more details to the picture of who is affected most by heat stress and heat-related mortality. Old age and being female increase the heat-related deaths in Germany according to the study by Zhang et al. (2024) published in the Lancet Regional Health. Our body’s thermoregular responses to heat stress like vasodilation or hyperventilation cause additional stress to our cardiovascular and pulmonary system. Excessive sweating and dehydration, possibly increased through medication, amplify heat-related risks. The study corrects the estimates by using fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ozone (O3), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) data on the district level in the analysis. High concentrations of PM2.5 and NO2 increase heat stress and related deaths as well. Inner cities are, therefore, not the best place to be during the hot season. Most southern European inhabitants of big cities are aware of these health hazards and act accordingly. In Germany it is much less a habit to quit inner cities during the hot days in summer, but climate change will make this a major concern. Greening inner cities is an urgent necessity, which is not just nice to have, but saves lives. (Image Berlin Bears, Berlin City Center 2023)

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Games over

All nice things eventually come to an end. So do the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics. The images have been impressive of both events and the millions of spectators give a good testimony in this respect. The cultural by-program of the Games was equally remarkable. The live performances of dancers not only on the opening and closing ceremonies attracted big audiences. Many well-known sites of Paris prepared their own events and inspired as well as entertained the visitors. On the small stage in front of the “Marie de Paris”, the city hall (Image below), ballet performances (video) were staged to hint at the possibility to see more artistic performances throughout the year in Paris opera houses and other stages. Good reasons to come back and renew unique moments in Paris beyond 2024. Paris hotels will be more accessible again for moderate budgets and waiting times for entries should come down to normal levels as well. Back to a new normal for Paris.

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Painter Sociologist

In going to a gallery and exhibition of paintings from the 17th century (Gemäldegalerie Berlin) you do not really expect to attend a class of sociology. However, this is exactly what the Flemish painter Frans Hals does with his paintings of various genres of society of his time. His sociological categories are for example unmarried young persons, married couples or pensioners living in a shared home. Other social categories of interest to him are a caregiver or, more common for the time, persons from noble or wealthy families. His painting „The Regents of the old men’s Almshouse” (ca 1660), the male pensioners home is one of his last paintings when he himself was already about 80 years old. Similar to a College of students the elderly home was run by a house father and house mother who took care of the daily living. The paintings of Frans Hals covered the entire life course with a cross-section perspective of society at his time. From few of his supporters he painted even several images moving towards a kind of longitudinal perspective on a person’s life course. Certainly, with “Oude-mannenhuis” (image below) he was interested not only in individual life courses, but of the conditions, forms or images of aging at his time. He probably was one of the first to challenge the negative stereotypes of aging.

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Theatre Archives

The process of creation in the realm of theatre performances has manifold facets. The French National Library (BNF) in Paris has received the archives of the „Théâtre du Rond-Point” in 2023 and honors the donation with a fascinating exhibition on the immense creativity of the author, scenarist and director Jean-Michel Ribes. (Image below) The professional diaries of Jean-Michel Ribes and the documentation through photographs from the performances and video extracts allow an intimate view into the hard work of producing theatrical performances, popular television shows and comedies. Jean-Michel Ribes took notes of all sorts and kept extensive lists of potential collaborators, actors, daily occurrences and just nice sounding phrases. From just a simple phrase heard on the streets he developed a small piece to be performed in shows. Listening to the people and enriching this with great actors in superb scenery made his popular success. The creativity seems to derive from ample note taking and coming back to them eventually.

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Lost Objects

Project yourself into the future more than a hundred years from today, maybe even more than a thousand years from today. Some archaeologists will work on the planet earth to uncover the story behind the disappearance of the once very advanced species of homo erectus. They start drilling near some of the mystical sites of this civilization, the cities where mass celebrations were held called Olympic Games. These archaeologists use huge drilling machines to take samples at previous Olympic sites and uncover the remains of the thought to be modern civilizations on earth. Amongst all these samples they find all sorts of artifacts and layers left over. Plastics and metal structures appear in the samples as well as other forms of „artificializations“, transformations of earth’s principal „natural“ raw materials. The inhabitants of earth apparently lost or destroyed the planet‘s capabilities of CO2 storage and eventually became extinct. After fighting for survival on another planet the archeological expedition on earth saved this block of the remains of a doomed civilization. All this is pure science fiction, yet the specimen sample is exposed on the roof of the futuristic Fondation Louis Vuitton building near the Jardin d‘Acclimatation in Neuilly sur Seine. (Image of „Where the slaves live“ of Adrian Villar Rochas, 2014).

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Olympic Criticism

The Olympic Games are, like every international organization, subject to criticism. In democracies this is part of the DNA of democracies that you can voice your criticisms openly without being threatened by persecution or arrest. The Olympic Games have since its beginning in ancient or modern times favored sport disciplines that have a link to warfare. The spectrum of disciplines has been extended recently to blur a bit this belligerent image of the Games. However even the break dance is performed in a kind of battle or competition between two adversaries. This is the reason why totalitarian states have (had) a predilection to show off their state sponsored warriors in the Olympic Games. Nazi Germany and the Berlin 1936 Games were the worst example of how the Games can get abused only to demonstrate a country’s force through athletes. Dictatorships of our times are not much different in this regard. Showing how many successful athletes (soldiers) you are able to produce is somehow an indicator of your professional training system of elite performance. Now, add to it the top performance in the Paralympic Games like Paris 2024 and you can even demonstrate how well you are able to care for and train potentially even also for mutilated warriors. Criticism of preparations of warriors and war masked through sport competitions are maybe unfair or utterly displaced here. It is, nevertheless, much better to compete on the sports-field rather than with loaded weapons. Only in retrospect, we often understand, why some nations made such enormous efforts to demonstrate a commitment to win as much as possible. With a growing enthusiasm for the Olympic Games the critical reflections rise as well.

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Paralympic Counting

The classification system of the Paralympic disciplines is well worked out. This ensures that competitions are on a more equal footing. The counting of medals, points and penalties is an easy task. It is more difficult to keep track of equipment and infrastructure and the adaptation status of it to Paralympic needs in a country or region. Statistics and monitoring of installations is one important step in preparing for participation and success in Paralympic disciplines. On an European open data platform we find the regional data set of “Parasportive equipment in clubs and committees of the Pays de la Loire”, for example. Transparency of structures is a first step in improving access to it. For Paralympic athletes it is the same process to gain access to sport equipment as for all other athletes. The monitoring of infrastructure and equipment is a laborious task, but the documentation of helps people on their way to obtain access. Paralympic counting, therefore, is much more than counting medals and trophies even if they are really nice looking.

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Olympic Medals

The distribution of Olympic medals across continents reveals the persistent inequality of rewards across the globe. The first African country in the overall ranking of countries by Olympic medals is Kenya on 17th place. All 11 medals including 4 gold medals were obtained in athletics and in running disciplines 800m and more. The financial resources needed to practice running as high level sport are probably the lowest one of all disciplines. Ethiopia is another African country with this tradition of high level long distance runners on the African continent. Equipment and coaching in other disciplines than athletics involves more infrastructure and becomes more costly and the possibility to reserve infrastructure for elite athletes of a country is more difficult if the infrastructure for the population at large is rather limited compared to the population size. Therefore, the Olympic tradition has to confront the challenge of unequal access to many disciplines of the Olympic Games also in Paris 2024. Being a very good athlete is just not enough if you lack the coaches, training and facilities to be able to compete with the well-equipped countries. The knowledge about the best details of a specific technique or optimization potentials are part of the Olympic challenges as well. The Americas, Europe and Asia might be confronted with new forms or another criticism of imperialist strategies, this time in the domain of sport. The winner or medalists take all. Country rankings appear a bit like the football device “money buys goals”. (Image, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, Extrait of Omar Victor Diop “Diaspora” 2014-2015).

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Paralympic Happiness

It is with great pleasure that we watch the paralympic athletes in Paris compete for Olympic medals. For many the emotions of participation and being applauded by so many people in a sport arena are great experiences. Happiness derives from such great games and audiences. The accomplishments of the athletes and their supporting teams are truly outstanding. The progress towards such high skill levels is remarkable for each of them. The adaptation to what appears to be a handicap with adequate support and technique allows to surpass limitations. Well exercised skills like swimming are possible to be performed with great skill to achieve incredible performances. The Paralympic Games in Paris 2024 are a great reminder that besides the athletes some artists had to struggle with handicaps, but achieved some of the finest pieces of art. Matisse, for example, is called frequently “le peintre-du-bonheur”, the painter of happiness. In his last few years he faced a severe handicap to paint, however the pursuit of abstraction helped him to continue to create masterpieces. The rather radical pursuit of abstraction and maybe simplification are uncovered in the exhibition “Matisse: The red studio” at the “Fondation Louis Vuitton”. This marks an important step in the artistic life course of Matisse and enabled him to continue his work in later life when his health made it very difficult to pursue his artistic work. (Image at Fondation Louis Vuitton 2024-9-1 exhibition Matisse).

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Olympic Nature

Nature and its biodiversity can teach us many lessons. This is made very explicit in the small exhibition in the “Jardin des Plantes” in Paris. The treasures of (lost) biodiversity are exposed in the adjacent “Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle”. In a pleasant environment within Paris you can stroll along rare flowers and trees to pass the posters that demonstrate the astonishing achievements of some species (Les champions of nature). For example ants would surpass us in weightlifting in relationship to own weight. A marathon of 42 km is a very short distance for birds flying across continents with rest. High jump or long jump is rather easy for frogs, but we struggle already to jump a little bit higher than our own body length. Lots of other examples are shown the exhibition and should make us a bit more humble concerning the sport accomplishments of humans. Beyond Darwin and Mendel there is a lot to see and experience in the Great Gallery of Evolution. After the question remains whether we are really at the top of the evolutionary ladder. In terms of marketing our successes irrespective of many species disappearing with rapid speed, we still appear rather unique in the evolution. Learning from other species as in bionics is a powerful strategy which is also quite effective to empower humans compared to other species.

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Olympics for All

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games have demonstrated the extraordinary competence, professionalism and competitiveness of all athletes. The television spectators and live participants in the events have been involved to a great deal. Considering the probability of getting involved in physical activities and sports High level athletes are most likely to continue their sports activities. In many countries the extraordinary athletes of the Paralympics faced tough challenges to pursue their sport interests and passion. The public health challenge is the big unresolved issue of how to best raise an awareness for the pleasures and benefits of sport for the masses. (bibliography by BNF “Santé et activité physique) It is not only a matter of suitable infrastructure, but also the question of sports in your neighborhood. This issue has implications for urban and rural communities and how they organize the practice of sports in an inclusive way. Each step may be a stepping stone into sports for all ages and pathologies.

BNF Paris 2024-8
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Paris Trees

Preparing metropolitan cities like Paris for the heating up of the globe due to climate change is a huge task. As early as 2020 Paris started an ambitious greening program. 170.000 new trees by 2026 in a densely populated city is a steep challenge. With 114.000 trees planted by 2024 as the Olympic athletes and spectators gathered in Paris the city is right on track. The 2 parks “bois de Boulogne et bois de Vincennes” have jointly 25.000 new or renewed trees. The cemeteries, for example “Père Lachaise” has received new cooling trees as well. Most trees, however, were planted along the notoriously hot and overcrowded “périphérique” with 50.000. Only with the use of a Colbert-like planning exercise and rigorous implementation against even some initial resistance, it is possible to achieve this result and the ultimate objective. Visitors of the Olympic Games already experienced the differences during the summer of 2024. Detailed planning by means of a “Bilan par arrondissement” facilitates monitoring of progress. Publishing the information is part of the communication strategy to keep citizens informed and engaged in this silent transformation for the benefit of inhabitants and visitors. (Image City of Paris webpage 2024)

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Paris libéré

It is with great pleasure to follow how Paris commemorates the liberation of Paris from Nazi-Germany 80 years ago. (Quote from De Gaulle “Paris libéré”.) On the 25th of August 1944 the city of Paris was finally liberated by French armies and the support of the local resistance movement. Similar to the journey of the Olympic flame on the way to Paris, we can follow each city celebrating the liberation from the occupants. Beginning with the landing in the Normandy of the Allied troops, the chasing of the enemy has been a matter of time, but still incurred huge human losses. More than 4 years of Nazi symbols in Paris were finally brought to an end and celebrations on the streets became a symbol for the enormous relief this liberation has meant to the population of Paris, France and hope to many neighbouring, but still occupied territories.
Several documentaries on television and radio allow to empathize with the joy of this time. Enduring the hardships imposed and, for many, risking their lives in clandestine networks of the resistance were honoured by the success of the liberation of the city without the massive destruction, which was to be expected.
A book edited by Ulla Plener (2007) highlights the supporting role played by some women originally from Germany to support the French Resistance movement. It still is not common to understand the retreat of Nazi-Germany also in Germany as the progressive liberation of the country from the terrors of a dictatorship.

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Burden of Disease

For the planning of health and care systems it is important to measure the so-called burden of disease within societies or related to specific diseases or social groups. A large-scale analysis of several longitudinal data bases of the populations 50 years of age and older shows that we have underestimated the burden of disease to societies of psychiatric disorders, like depression, in most societies.
A meta-study and overview of previous studies showed already that depression (age 60+) is more common in lower-income countries (between 25 and 33% of 60+population age group). High income countries, studied by Wang et al. 2024 in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, have rates of depression well below these levels, but a link to socioeconomic status, inactivity and loneliness is still evidenced. A five-year follow-up of persons aged 50+ years shows that the probability to develop a depression (hazard rate) is twice as high for persons with low socioeconomic status, who were socially
inactive and lonely than for socially active, high socioeconomic status and did not feel lonely at the beginning of measurement. The conclusion of the research highlights the need to develop and implement integrated and simultaneous initiatives to addressed the growing burden of disease related to depression in older persons. (Image, Jules Desbois, “Misery” 1887-89, Musée Rodin, Paris)

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Stress Ageing

The relationship between stress and aging is a complex one. Stress is known to accelerate aging and aging caused different reactions to stress. In short causality does not run only in one direction. Additionally new research published in Nature Medicine 2024 demonstrates that different genetic preconditions determine different response patterns to stress and subsequent brain aging. From anecdotal experience we are well aware of different persons coping very differently with stressful situations. Mastering of various coping mechanisms may attenuate the stress experience but the impact on preserving our brain remains an open question. Various other forms of lifestyle conditions like drugs and smoking cause specific forms of brain damage as well. 2 separate forms of dementia can be identified from brain MRI-images as well. The brain is no longer the black box of missing information about what is going on in humans. Put to the right purposes this is good news. (Image: break dance shooting Paris St Denis 2024)

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Alzheimer Research

Alzheimer disease has reached unprecedented levels in line with population aging. The study by Martino-Adami et al. 2024 has raised the hope that more people can receive an early diagnosis of Alzheimer and potentially start treatments. The study used plasma biomarkers rather than much more expensive and rare MRI scans for diagnosis. The rather exceptional results allow even to test for severity of Alzheimer according to established evaluation measures. Additionally, the probability of an Alzheimer trajectory on a time scale is feasible. The authors suggest that the data and statistical methods applied allow to identify Alzheimer before the outbreak of impairments. The data sample stems from “patients of advanced age visiting primary care”. This remains a limitation for generalizations, but the hope that other studies test the same approach with samples from younger populations will spur additional investments into such research. The list of institutions and foundations that contributed to make this study possible is really long. Thanks go to all involved, researchers, donors as well as the reviewers and editors of the journal. (Image Paris Metro Help Column 2024)