Sexuality and Affection among Elderly German Men and Women in Long-Term Relationships: Results of a Prospective Population-Based Study

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.The study was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Families, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (AZ 314-1722-102/16; AZ 301-1720-295/2), the Ministry for Science, Research and Art Baden-Württemberg, and the University of Rostock (FORUN 989020; 889048)

Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion

Attitudes Towards Sexuality in Older Men and Women Across Europe:Similarities, Differences, and Associations with Their Sex Lives

The aim of the study was to explore attitudes towards sexuality and sexual behaviour in older adults in Norway, Denmark, Belgium, and Portugal. A cross-sectional survey with representative samples of the population aged 60–75 years recruited through phone registers in Norway (676 men and 594 women), Denmark (530 men and 515 women), Belgium (318 men and 672 women), and Portugal (236 men and 273 women) was conducted. The data collection was carried out using an anonymous postal questionnaire. Four dimensions of attitudes towards sexuality were identified: ‘sex for love’, ‘sexual pressure in society’, ‘sex for well-being’, and ‘sexual changes and ageing’. Discriminant analyses identified three discriminant attitude functions: sex for well-being, sexual changes due to ageing, and sex for love. Portuguese men had positive attitudes towards sex as good for well-being in older adults but believed ageing was an obstacle to being sexual at this stage of life. Portuguese women believed sex was good for well-being and did not consider ageing an obstacle to sexual enjoyment. Norwegian men and Danish women believed changes in sexuality due to ageing were no obstacle to being sexual but did not believe that sex was good for well-being. The attitudes of Belgian and Danish men were largely inclined in the direction that sex is not particularly important for elderly people and that changes in sexuality occur due to the ageing process. Men and women were committed to the attitude of sex for love, although this was observed most in Belgian participants and least in Danish men. Positive attitudes towards sex for wellbeing and towards ageing and sexual changes correlated with less change in sexual interest and sexual enjoyment, and with increased frequency of intercourse and masturbation. To tailor successful sexual health interventions, attitudes of sexuality in older people should be addressed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio