Hosseini’s The Kite Runner: Some Critical Surveys, Impacts and Suggestions

Khaled Hossieni’s The Kite Runner (2003) is a multi-dimensional novel, which gives a variety of material for research from diverse angles. The critics and reviewers have explored the thematic, structural, political, denominational and strategic understanding of Afghanistan in their reviews. Their focus on ethnic through political to religious conflicts is revealed through socio-cultural dynamics of the characters. This study aims at focusing on the existing literature on the novel in such a way as to highlight its symbolic/ psychological suggestiveness. The in-depth analysis of the study shows that both the social and psychological sides of the humans are juxtaposed. If one side is balanced, the other will be developed and vice versa. Hence, the fundamental finding of the paper shows that prejudice, lack of cooperation, evils and stereotypes are caused by the psychological imbalance which can be corrected if one works on self-examination, self-criticism and self-improvement. Keywords: The Kite Runner; Political; Multi-dimensional; Psychological Imbalance; Self-examination

Factors Associated with Mortality Among Hospitalized Adults with COVID-19 Pneumonia at a Private Tertiary Hospital in Tanzania: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: The emergence of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused millions of deaths worldwide. There has been paucity of data for hospitalized African patients suffering from COVID-19. This study aimed to identify factors associated with in-hospital mortality in patients suffering from COVID-19 in Tanzania. Methods: This was a single center, retrospective, observational cohort study in adult patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 infection. Demographics, clinical pattern, laboratory and radiological investigations associated with increased odds of mortality were analyzed. Results: Of the 157 patients, 107 (68.1%) patients survived and 50 (31.8%) died. Mortality was highest in patients suffering with severe (26%) and critical (68%) forms of the disease. The median age of the cohort was 52 years (IQR 42– 61), majority of patients were male (86%) and of African origin (46%), who presented with fever (69%), cough (62%) and difficulty in breathing (43%). Factors that were associated with mortality among our cohort were advanced age (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.03– 1.11), being overweight and obese (OR 9.44, 95% CI 2.71– 41.0), suffering with severe form of the disease (OR 4.77, 95% CI 1.18– 25.0) and being admitted to the HDU and ICU (OR 6.68, 95% CI 2.06– 24.6). Conclusion: The overall in-hospital mortality was 31.8%. Older age, obesity, the severe form of the disease and admission to the ICU and HDU were major risk factors associated with in-hospital mortality

The pattern of admission, clinical characteristics, and outcomes among patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary hospital in Tanzania: a 5-year retrospective review

Introduction: Despite the implementation of complex interventions, ICU mortality remains high and more so in developing countries. The demand for critical care in Sub-Saharan Africa is more than ever before as the region experiences a double burden of rising rates of non-communicable diseases (NCD) in the background battle of combating infectious diseases. Limited studies in Tanzania have reported varying factors associated with markedly high rates of ICU mortality. Investigating the burden of ICU care remains crucial in providing insights into the effectiveness and challenges of critical care delivery. Material and Methods: A single-center retrospective study that reviewed records of all medically admitted patients admitted to the ICU of the Aga Khan Hospital, Dar-es-Salaam, from 1st October 2018 to 30th April 2023. To define the population in the study, we used descriptive statistics. Patients’ outcomes were categorized based on ICU survival. Binary logistic regression was run (at 95% CI and p-value \u3c 0.05) to identify the determinants for ICU mortality. Results: Medical records of 717 patients were reviewed. The cohort was male (n=472,65.8%) and African predominant (n=471,65.7%) with a median age of 58 years (IQR 45.0–71.0). 17.9% of patients did not survive. The highest mortality was noted amongst patients with septic shock (29.3%). The lowest survival was noted amongst patients requiring three organ support (n=12,2.1%). Advanced age (OR 1.02,CI 1.00–1.04), having more than three underlying comorbidities (OR 2.50,CI 1.96–6.60), use of inotropic support (OR 3.58,CI 1.89–6.80) and mechanical ventilation (OR 9.11,CI 4.72–18.11) showed association with increased risk for mortality in ICU. Conclusion: The study indicated a much lower ICU mortality rate compared to similar studies conducted in other parts of SubSaharan Africa. Advanced age, underlying multiple comorbidities and organ support were associated with ICU mortality. Large multicenter studies are needed to highlight the true burden of critical care illness in Tanzania

Rate-Constrained Data Aggregation in Power-Limited Multi-Sink Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract-We propose a cross-layer data-aggregation approach that maximizes the lifetime of wireless sensor networks with multiple sinks while ensuring the feasibility of the routing solution. The proposed approach accounts for the coupling effects between MAC-and network-layers to ensure the physical feasibility of the obtained solutions, and maximizes the network lifetime by avoiding nodes with critical energy resources. Using simulations, we demonstrate the impact of not including medium access contention constraints in the routing formulation on the physical feasibility of the routing solution. We also study the impact of several network parameters on the network lifetime