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More versatile than its European counterpart, the African comic is paradoxically both (in Walter Benjamin's words) art \"in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction\" because it is serialized and printed in newspapers and books, and a cottage industry which exists in the market of large-scale distribution because its horizontal integration (creativity-production-publishing) is very often managed, with great difficulty, by the artists themselves.

\"While most people consider painting, novels, and film to be universal formats of artistic expression, for the combination of graphic image and narrative they commonly use expressions tied to geography, like 'Japanese manga,' 'American comics,' 'French-Belgian BD'--and now 'African comics.' Yet 'African comics' as a homogenous entity probably does not exist. It is perhaps more accurate to speak of 'comics from Africa,' interest in which has taken concrete form in various exhibitions and international festivals, as well as in the publication of comics albums and academic research...\" (African Arts). This essay examines African comics, highlighting key themes and characteristics.

COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly required a high demand of hospitalization and an increased number of intensive care units (ICUs) admission. Therefore, it became mandatory to develop prognostic models to evaluate critical COVID-19 patients. We retrospectively evaluate a cohort of consecutive COVID-19 critically ill patients admitted to ICU with a confirmed diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. A multivariable Cox regression model including demographic, clinical and laboratory findings was developed to assess the predictive value of these variables. Internal validation was performed using the bootstrap resampling technique. The model's discriminatory ability was assessed with Harrell's C-statistic and the goodness-of-fit was evaluated with calibration plot. 242 patients were included [median age, 64 years (56-71 IQR), 196 (81%) males]. Hypertension was the most common comorbidity (46.7%), followed by diabetes (15.3%) and heart disease (14.5%). Eighty-five patients (35.1%) died within 28 days after ICU admission and the median time from ICU admission to death was 11 days (IQR 6-18). In multivariable model after internal validation, age, obesity, procaltitonin, SOFA score and PaO.sub.2 /FiO.sub.2 resulted as independent predictors of 28-day mortality. The C-statistic of the model showed a very good discriminatory capacity (0.82). We present the results of a multivariable prediction model for mortality of critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU. After adjustment for other factors, age, obesity, procalcitonin, SOFA and PaO2/FiO2 were independently associated with 28-day mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients. The calibration plot revealed good agreements between the observed and expected probability of death.

The study objective is to identify differences in postoperative pain management according to different analgesic treatments, targeting 2 main pathways involved in pain perception. The design is a randomized, parallel groups, open-label study. The setting is in an operating room, postoperative recovery area, and surgical ward. There are 200 patients undergoing open inguinal hernia repair (IHR) with tension-free technique (mesh repair). The intervention is a randomization to receive ketorolac (group K) or tramadol (group T) for 3 days after surgery. The measurements are differences in analgesic efficacy (numeric rating scale [NRS]) in the postoperative (up to 5 days) period, chronic pain incidence (1 and 3 months), side effects, and complications. We found no differences in analgesic efficacy (NRS value ≥4 in the first 96 hours: 26% in group K vs 32% in group T, P = .43); the proportion of patients with NRS ≥4 was similar in both groups, and the time trajectories were not significantly different (P for interaction = .24). Side effects were higher (12% vs 6%) in the tramadol group, although not significantly (P = .14), with a case of bleeding in the ketorolac group and higher incidence of constipation in tramadol group. One patient in each group developed chronic pain. Ketorolac or weak opioids are equally effective on acute pain and on persistent postsurgical pain development after IHR, and drug choice should be based on their potential side effects and patient's comorbidities. Further studies are needed to standardize the most rational approach to prevent persistent postsurgical pain after IHR. •Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or weak opioids have the same effectiveness in acute pain relief and in persistent postsurgical pain incidence after open inguinal hernia repair.•The choice between them should be driven by their potential side effects.•Early-starting (intraoperative) analgesia targeting different pain pathway as well as maintenance of analgesia (despite low-invasive surgery) after hospital discharge could help in preventing persistent postsurgical pain.•Studies investigating the effect of different nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and patient's basal inflammatory status are suggested to get to an individualized therapy.