Is Europe prepared to go digital? making the case for developing digital capacity: An exploratory analysis of Eurostat survey data

Digital divides are globally recognised as a wicked problem that threatens to become the new face of inequality. They are formed by discrepancies in Internet access, digital skills, and tangible outcomes (e.g. health, economic) between populations. Previous studies indicate that Europe has an average Internet access rate of 90%, yet rarely specify for different demographics and do not report on the presence of digital skills. This exploratory analysis used the 2019 community survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals from Eurostat, which is a sample of 147,531 households and 197,631 individuals aged 16-74. The cross-country comparative analysis includes EEA and Switzerland. Data were collected between January and August 2019 and analysed between April and May 2021. Large differences in Internet access were observed (75-98%), especially between North-Western (94-98%) and South-Eastern Europe (75-87%). Young populations, high education levels, employment, and living in an urban environment appear to positively influence the development of higher digital skills. The cross-country analysis exhibits a positive correlation between high capital stock and income/earnings, and the digital skills development while showing that the internet-access price bears marginal influence over digital literacy levels. The findings suggest Europe is currently unable to host a sustainable digital society without exacerbating cross-country inequalities due to substantial differences in internet access and digital literacy. Investment in building digital capacity in the general population should be the primary objective of European countries to ensure they can benefit optimally, equitably, and sustainably from the advancements of the Digital Era

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Is Europe prepared to go digital? making the case for developing digital capacity: An exploratory analysis of Eurostat survey data

Digital divides are globally recognised as a wicked problem that threatens to become the new face of inequality. They are formed by discrepancies in Internet access, digital skills, and tangible outcomes (e.g. health, economic) between populations. Previous studies indicate that Europe has an average Internet access rate of 90%, yet rarely specify for different demographics and do not report on the presence of digital skills. This exploratory analysis used the 2019 community survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals from Eurostat, which is a sample of 147,531 households and 197,631 individuals aged 16-74. The cross-country comparative analysis includes EEA and Switzerland. Data were collected between January and August 2019 and analysed between April and May 2021. Large differences in Internet access were observed (75-98%), especially between North-Western (94-98%) and South-Eastern Europe (75-87%). Young populations, high education levels, employment, and living in an urban environment appear to positively influence the development of higher digital skills. The cross-country analysis exhibits a positive correlation between high capital stock and income/earnings, and the digital skills development while showing that the internet-access price bears marginal influence over digital literacy levels. The findings suggest Europe is currently unable to host a sustainable digital society without exacerbating cross-country inequalities due to substantial differences in internet access and digital literacy. Investment in building digital capacity in the general population should be the primary objective of European countries to ensure they can benefit optimally, equitably, and sustainably from the advancements of the Digital Era

Is Europe prepared to go digital? making the case for developing digital capacity: An exploratory analysis of Eurostat survey data

Digital divides are globally recognised as a wicked problem that threatens to become the new face of inequality. They are formed by discrepancies in Internet access, digital skills, and tangible outcomes (e.g. health, economic) between populations. Previous studies indicate that Europe has an average Internet access rate of 90%, yet rarely specify for different demographics and do not report on the presence of digital skills. This exploratory analysis used the 2019 community survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals from Eurostat, which is a sample of 147,531 households and 197,631 individuals aged 16-74. The cross-country comparative analysis includes EEA and Switzerland. Data were collected between January and August 2019 and analysed between April and May 2021. Large differences in Internet access were observed (75-98%), especially between North-Western (94-98%) and South-Eastern Europe (75-87%). Young populations, high education levels, employment, and living in an urban environment appear to positively influence the development of higher digital skills. The cross-country analysis exhibits a positive correlation between high capital stock and income/earnings, and the digital skills development while showing that the internet-access price bears marginal influence over digital literacy levels. The findings suggest Europe is currently unable to host a sustainable digital society without exacerbating cross-country inequalities due to substantial differences in internet access and digital literacy. Investment in building digital capacity in the general population should be the primary objective of European countries to ensure they can benefit optimally, equitably, and sustainably from the advancements of the Digital Era

Human Anti-Aβ IgGs Target Conformational Epitopes on Synthetic Dimer Assemblies and the AD Brain-Derived Peptide

<div><p>Soluble non-fibrillar assemblies of amyloid-beta (Aβ) and aggregated tau protein are the proximate synaptotoxic species associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Anti-Aβ immunotherapy is a promising and advanced therapeutic strategy, but the precise Aβ species to target is not yet known. Previously, we and others have shown that natural human IgGs (NAbs) target diverse Aβ conformers and have therapeutic potential. We now demonstrate that these antibodies bound with nM avidity to conformational epitopes on plate-immobilized synthetic Aβ dimer assemblies, including synaptotoxic protofibrils, and targeted these conformers in solution. Importantly, NAbs also recognized Aβ extracted from the water-soluble phase of human AD brain, including species that migrated on denaturing PAGE as SDS-stable dimers. The critical reliance on Aβ’s conformational state for NAb binding, and not a linear sequence epitope, was confirmed by the antibody’s nM reactivity with plate-immobilized protofibrills, and weak uM binding to synthetic Aβ monomers and peptide fragments. The antibody’s lack of reactivity against a linear sequence epitope was confirmed by our ability to isolate anti-Aβ NAbs from intravenous immunoglobulin using affinity matrices, immunoglobulin light chain fibrils and Cibacron blue, which had no sequence similarity with the peptide. These findings suggest that further investigations on the molecular basis and the therapeutic/diagnostic potential of anti-Aβ NAbs are warranted.</p> </div

Unfractionated and Cibacron blue-isolated NAbs binding to plate-immobilized amyloidogenic conformers.

1<p>CB is an abbreviation for Cibacron blue.</p>2<p>Each value for EC₅₀, max signal, and IC₅₀ for antibody binding to a plate-immobilized Aβ conformer was the average value obtained from three sigmoidal fitted antibody binding curves, such as shown in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0050317#pone-0050317-g005" target="_blank">Figure 5</a>.</p>3<p>Max is an abbreviation for maximum assay signal.</p

NAb immunoprecipitation of synthetic and AD brain-derived Aβ.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Western blot analysis of synthetic S26CAβ conformers immunoprecipitated by NAbs isolated from IVIg by Cibacron blue affinity chromatography, and by mAb 6E10: M, monomers; D, dimers, and PFs. (<b>B</b>) Western blot analysis of soluble Aβ present in TBS extracts of AD brain immunoprecipitated by unfractionated and Cibacron blue-isolated IVIg IgGs, and by rabbit polyclonal anti-Aβ IgGs, AW8. Prot A/G alone stands for control studies carried out with antibody capture beads (a 1∶1 mixture of Protein A sepharose and Protein G agarose) and brain extract without primary antibody. The Western blots were developed using N-terminal and mid-region Aβ-reactive mAbs, 6E10 and 4G8, and enhanced chemiluminescence as the detection system. NS, indicates non-specific bands arising from secondary antibody detection of NAb’s light chains. M and D are abbreviations for Aβ monomers and dimers, respectively.</p

Unmodified and Aβ and LC fibril-isolated NAbs binding to plate-immobilized amyloid fibrils.

1<p>Each value for EC₅₀ and max signal for NAb binding to plate-immobilized Aβ or LC fibrils was the average value obtained from three sigmoidal fitted antibody binding curves, such as shown in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0050317#pone-0050317-g001" target="_blank">Figure 1</a>.</p