This paper is situated within the context of the onset of British imperialism in Nigeria at the end of the nineteenth century, with a particular focus on the conquest of the Ijebu Kingdom. The episode, as discussed in the paper, is intended for stage or screen theatrical adaptation. It demonstrates the value of historical dramatization based on data foregrounded by standard historical and relevant research methodologies. The principal text in the paper, derived from primary and research-based sources, is outlined in a chronological narrative. The general idea is to enable the development of a script to create a historical drama.

L-carnitine is essential for myocardial metabolism, and its depletion may compromise heart function. We conducted a prospective observational study to assess serum carnitine profiles in 26 children under 36 months of age undergoing elective open-heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. Measurements included free carnitine, acylcarnitine, and the acylcarnitine-to-free carnitine ratio, recorded preoperatively and at multiple postoperative time points up to 24 hours. We observed a significant postoperative decline in free carnitine and an increase in the acylcarnitine-to-free carnitine ratio, both of which correlated with cardiopulmonary bypass duration. These results highlight a perioperative disturbance in carnitine metabolism, suggesting potential relevance for postoperative cardiac recovery.

We propose an evolutionary competition model to investigate the green transition of firms, highlighting the role of adjustment costs, state-dependent transition risk, and positive externalities in green technology adoption. Firms base their decisions to adopt either green or brown technologies on relative performance. To incorporate the costs of switching to another technology into their decision-making process, we adopt a novel, ad hoc crafted, replicator dynamics. Our global analysis reveals that increasing transition risk, e.g., by threatening to impose stricter environmental regulations, effectively incentivizes the green transition. Economic policy recommendations derived from our model further suggest maintaining high transition risk regardless of the industry’s level of greenness. Subsidizing the costs of adopting green technologies can reduce the risk of a failed green transition. While positive externalities in green technology adoption can amplify the effects of green policies, they do not completely eliminate the possibility of a failed green transition. Finally, evolutionary pressure reduces the extent of green economic policies required to ensure a successful green transition.

This study examines public-private partnerships (PPPs) in home- and community-based services (HCBS) for older adults in Guangzhou, China, amid growing efforts to increase non-state actor participation and market mechanisms in welfare provision. Based on semi-structured interviews with non-state actors, this research examines both contractual and relational dimensions of PPPs and why achieving their full potential remains challenging. Findings reveal that state actors maintain a leading role in PPPs, with non-state actors primarily positioned as implementers of predefined welfare objectives. The power imbalance embedded in China’s sociopolitical context blurs the boundaries among the Party, state, and society, shaping coordination challenges in PPPs. These structural constraints hinder integrated service delivery and limit the extent to which PPPs can meaningfully leverage the expertise of various actors. This study enhances understanding of PPPs in China’s authoritarian, state-led market context and offers insights into the evolving landscape of welfare socialisation reforms.

Divine simplicity is plausibly seen as a biblical doctrine, given a standard account of the way doctrine is derived from Scripture. The polemic of Jeremiah 10 against ancient Near Eastern mis pî or ‘mouth opening’ rituals involves a commitment to a radical account of divine aseity. In dialogue with Thomas Aquinas and a number of contemporary figures, I suggest this view of divine aseity might plausibly be thought to lead to the inference to divine simplicity.

Autonomous manoeuvre decision-making is essential for enhancing the survivability and operational effectiveness of unmanned aerial vehicles in high-risk and dynamic air combat scenarios. To address the limitations of traditional air combat decision-making methods in dealing with complex and rapidly changing environments, this paper proposes an autonomous air combat decision-making algorithm based on hybrid temporal difference error-reward prioritised experience replay with twin delayed deep deterministic policy gradient. This algorithm constructs a closed-loop learning system from environmental interaction to policy optimisation, addressing the key challenges of slow convergence and insufficient identification of critical tactical decisions in autonomous air combat. A hybrid priority metric leveraging reward backpropagation and temporal difference error filter is introduced to optimise the learning of high-value experiences while balancing sample diversity and the reuse of critical experiences. To reduce excessive trial and error in the initial phase, an integrated reward function combining task rewards and auxiliary guidance rewards is designed using the reward reshaping method to guide the agent on how to choose a manoeuvre strategy. Based on the established three-dimensional close-range air combat game model, simulation validations were conducted for both basic manoeuvre and expert system engagements. The results demonstrate that the proposed autonomous air combat manoeuvre decision-making algorithm exhibits higher learning efficiency and convergence stability. It can rapidly identify high-value manoeuvres and effectively formulate rational yet superior tactical strategies in the face of complex battlefield scenarios, demonstrating obvious benefits in enhancing combat effectiveness and tactical adaptability.

The classical account of administrative law, which holds that unlawful administrative acts are void ab initio and that judicial review remedies such as quashing orders are merely declaratory of such acts’ legal status, appears to be placed in doubt by a range of recent legislative developments, judicial pronouncements and academic commentary. However, the classical account is not only capable of withstanding those apparent challenges: it is constitutionally imperative if collateral challenge is to be maintained and the rule of law thereby upheld.

This article examines Taiwan’s approach of using government-issued contractual templates to regulate unfair terms in standard forms for consumer transactions. This article studies user agreements from a sample of two different types of electronic payment service providers (PSPs) in Taiwan, one operating under a more stringent regulatory framework and the other subject to lighter regulation. This article finds that PSPs largely adhere to the templates even when they are not obliged to do so, indicating the effectiveness of the template approach for PSPs. However, PSPs often adopt or adapt template terms in ways that maximise flexibility. This is in line with the behavioural assumption that businesses modify template terms that do not meet their business interests. Moreover, where government-issued templates are widely adopted by firms in an industry, templates begin to function like regulatory rules. In these cases, greater transparency in the creation of contractual templates is required to legitimise their role in regulating unfair terms in consumer contracts.