Malnutrition in children remains a major global public health concern, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 120 children, with a sub-sample of 23 children selected for a 3-day weighed food intake assessment. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire, anthropometric measurements, and dietary intake records. Analysis was performed using SPSS version 21 and results were presented as means, frequencies, and percentages. The daily energy intake of children aged 4 and 5 years was below the recommended levels (74.1% and 64.3%, respectively). However, children aged 2 and 3 years had adequate energy intakes, exceeding the recommendations (102.4% and 111.5%). Iron intake across all age groups was below the recommended dietary intake. Intake of B-complex vitamins (B1, B2, B3) among 2-, 3-, and 5-year-olds exceeded recommended levels. Calcium intake was consistently low across all age groups (2 years: 37.5%, 3 years: 44.6%, 4 years: 23.5%, 5 years: 24.7%), this is due to low consumption of protein food sources and vegetables rich in calcium. Key factors influencing low nutritional status included inadequate consumption of high protein food sources, overreliance on carbohydrate food (cassava flour), poor consumption of fruits and vegetables, and inability to access food due to sickness. The study highlights suboptimal intake of energy and essential micronutrients among orphanage children, particularly older age groups. Nutrition education, improved feeding practices, and increased dietary diversity are essential to improve the nutritional status of children in orphanages.

In this introduction, we briefly define Canadian philosophy and discuss its importance before introducing the authors who contributed to this special issue and their articles. The history of Canadian philosophy has been understudied, and there is a need for new philosophical work on the challenges facing Canada. Some articles collected in this special issue examine the history of philosophy in Canada, while others subject contemporary issues to philosophical analysis. The contributors to this special issue include Ian H. Angus, Robert Timko, Anna Brinkerhoff, Stefan Lukits, Charles Blattberg, Ronald A. Kuipers, Jérôme Gosselin-Tapp, Delphine T. Raymond, Frédérique Jean, Rémi Poiré, Matthew Robertson, Janet C. Wesselius, and R. Bruce Elder.

Charles Taylor’s idea of “deep diversity” has played a major role in debates over multiculturalism in Canada and around the world. Originally, the idea was meant to account for how different groups within Canada — anglophone Canadians, francophone Quebecers, and Indigenous — conceive of their belonging to the country in different ways. Taylor, however, conceives of these differences strictly in terms of irreducibility; that is, he fails to see that they also mean that the country cannot be said to form a unified whole. After giving an account of the philosophical as well as theological reasons for this, I explore its political implications.

This article explicates the border as a metaphor for an English Canadian nation and for Canadian philosophy in English Canada. The concept of the nation is explicated with reference to Winthrop Pickford Bell. The role of metaphor in philosophy is justified while maintaining its distinction from literature or poetry. Key features of the concept of “border” are division, distinction, and relation. The fact that the border is open to two different interpretations testifies to its viability. Use of the border as a metaphor in philosophy and related cultural expressions suggests that it has a limited, though persisting, duration.

The genus Populus (poplar) plays a major ecological role and is one of the fastest-growing woody species worldwide. Consequently, it serves as a model for genetic studies in woody plants. Identifying superior clones requires assessing genetic diversity, for which cytogenetic and karyotypic studies are essential. This study investigated 40 clones from 10 species. Significant differences (p ≤ 0.01) were observed among clones for most chromosomal traits, indicating considerable karyotypic diversity. The base chromosome number was x = 19, with both diploid (2n = 2x = 38) and triploid (2n = 3x = 57) ploidy levels present. The clones P. euramericana var. vernirubensis (P. canadensis var. vernirubensis): 1(16) and P. nigra var. 63/135: 20(5) exhibited the most symmetric and most asymmetric karyotypes, respectively. The clones P. canadensis var. vernirubensis: 1(16) and P. caspica: (35) possessed the largest and smallest chromosomes, respectively. Quantitative analysis revealed that while individual chromosome volume was similar between ploidy levels (0.56–0.65 µm3 in triploids vs. 0.52–0.81 µm3 in diploids), the total chromosomal volume per cell was significantly greater in triploids (31.92–37.05 µm3) than in diploids (19.76–30.80 µm3). This ∼1.4-fold increase closely matched the theoretical 1.5-fold expectation based on chromosome number, indicating strict genomic additivity. Principal component analysis identified four main components: intra-chromosomal symmetry, chromosome length, inter-chromosomal symmetry and ploidy level. Cluster analysis grouped the 40 clones into 19 distinct classes, with different clones from the same species often classified separately, highlighting extensive intra-specific karyotypic diversity. The study demonstrates that triploid clones maintain diploid-scale chromosome dimensions, suggesting their possible phenotypic superiority stems from stable genome duplication rather than structural change, making them predictable candidates for breeding.

Amphipod samples were collected from the rocky habitat of Arjyapalli beach in southern Odisha, India. The specimens were analysed for morphological characters. One interesting species was observed during the study and was identified as Stenothoe lowryi. The species was previously reported only from Malaysia. The present study confirms the distributional range extension of this species to Indian waters and details a few additional morphological characters.

To date, there are no records of appendicularian assemblages or associated investigations in the waters adjacent to the Kuroshio Current around the Nansei Islands, Japan. In this study, plankton samplings were conducted with a North Pacific Standard net hauled vertically from a depth of 200 m to the surface to investigate the appendicularian community structure in such waters. Five species were newly recorded in the western North Pacific, each representing a new geographical record for the region. The new records include Fritillaria aequatorialis, Fritillaria pacifica, Fritillaria pellucida omani, Appendicularia tregouboffi, and Kowalevskia oceanica, which belong to appendicularian families Fritillariidae and Kowalevskiidae. Among them, F. aequatorialis, A. tregouboffi, and K. oceanica represent the first records in the entire Pacific Ocean. Owing to the under sampling of appendicularian assemblages in tropical and subtropical waters in the Pacific Ocean and a lack of systematic quantitative and qualitative research on this topic, these species might have been overlooked for a long time in Japanese waters.

Oats (Avena sativa L.) are cultivated worldwide for food and feed. Recently, there has been a growing interest in oats in South Korea owing to their nutritional and feed value. To support efficient breeding and genetic resource management, this study evaluated seven agronomic traits of 506 Avena accessions collected globally with two Korean oat varieties as standards. Seven agronomic traits – days to heading (DTH), plant height (PH), plant type, dehulling characteristics, 1,000-grain weight (TGW), seed length, and seed width (SW) – were evaluated over two to three years under Korean spring conditions. An augmented design was employed due to a lack of seeds and the field, and environmental bias was adjusted using Best Linear Unbiased Predictions. Statistical analyses revealed a strong positive correlation between TGW and SW and a moderate positive correlation between PH and DTH. Principal component analysis (PCA) identified that the first two principal components (PCs) explained 66.88% of the total variance, and that PC1 and PC2 were highly correlated with grain characteristics. K-prototype clustering analysis classified the 506 oat genetic resources into four distinct clusters based on the results of PCA, rather than their geographical origins. Cluster analysis indicated that Clusters 1 and 3 have potential for forage oat breeding, particularly in fodder use, whereas Clusters 2 and 4 may be valuable for grain-use oat breeding in South Korea. This study provides a comprehensive phenotypic assessment of oat germplasm obtained globally under Korean spring conditions and provides a useful foundation for germplasm management, cultivar development, and future genetic research.

Since its foundation in 2001, EANA (European Astrobiology Network Association, http://www.eana-net.eu/) has organized annual meetings to foster and strengthen the astrobiology community within Europe. The growth of the European astrobiology community over the years is reflected not only in the growing participation at the annual EANA meeting but also in the foundation of the graduate network AbGradE (Astrobiology Graduates in Europe, https://abgrade.eu/) with many activities, meetings and workshops organized since 2014, including several joint events with EPEC (the EuroPlanet Early Career network), as well as the foundation of the European Astrobiology Institute (EAI) in 2019.

The EANA Executive Council consists of national representatives from currently 21 European (and affiliated) countries with active astrobiology groups, networks or societies, as well as representatives of the early-career AbGradE network. The EANA network and especially the Executive Council therefore directly promote a broad and diverse representation of many career stages as well as nationalities including normally underrepresented countries. After more than two decades of a formal astrobiology network in Europe, it is time to explore and evaluate the actual obtained diversity within EANA and AbGradE with respect to nationality, gender and career status of our members based on our annual meeting participation, and to reflect on future measures to further improve the diversity and inclusiveness of our networks and events.

We find that while our annual events are very diverse with respect to career stage, gender and research disciplines, a few aspects leave room for improvement, including especially a more balanced representation of different countries with astrobiology research within Europe and beyond. We discuss different equality, diversity and inclusivity measures that can be implemented for future EANA and AbGradE meetings in Europe to better represent the full astrobiology community within our networks.

A prominent presence in the news media is important for interest groups. This article investigates the development in the diversity of interest group media attention over time. The analysis draws on a dataset of 19,000 group appearances in the Danish news media in the period 1984–2003. It demonstrates how diversity has risen continually over time, leading to a media agenda less dominated by labour and business and more by public interest groups and sectional groups. This development is related to the increasing political importance of the news media and the decline in group integration in public decision‐making processes. The article also shows how the development of group appearances is closely related to changes in media attention towards different policy areas.

In light of recent trends in the internationalisation of post-secondary education, the rising popularity of short-term study abroad programmes, and the persistent lack of diversity in study abroad, this article presents an option for a short-term, hybrid study abroad programme. The article highlights the Oregon University System Cuba programme and its use of a ‘double hybrid’ model utilising both in-person and on-line coursework and on-campus and study abroad courses aimed to internationalise educational opportunities statewide and to diversify populations participating in international programmes. Though early in its evolution, the ‘double hybrid’ model has much to offer educational institutions, faculty and students alike, either in its entirety or in part.

This article builds on the Linguistic Society of America's Statement on Race to argue that linguistics urgently needs an interdisciplinarily informed theoretical engagement with race and racism. To be adequate, a linguistic theory of race must incorporate the perspectives of linguistic researchers of different methodological approaches and racial backgrounds and must also draw on theories of race in neighboring fields, including anthropology, sociology, and psychology, as well as speech and hearing sciences, composition and literacy studies, education, and critical interdisciplinary race studies. The lack of comprehensive and up-to-date theoretical, analytical, and political understandings of race within linguistics not only weakens research by erasing, marginalizing, and misrepresenting racially minoritized groups, but it also diminishes the impact of the entire field by devaluing and excluding the intellectual contributions of researchers of color, whose work on this topic is rarely welcome within linguistics departments. The article therefore argues for a rethinking of both linguistic scholarship and linguistics as a discipline in more racially inclusive and socially just terms.

This article examines Canadian political science and responses to diversity both in terms of who is included in the profession and their reported experiences. Utilizing extant national surveys, including from the Canadian Political Science Association, the findings show that in comparison to the 1970s, the profession today is clearly more “diverse” both in terms of its demographics, as well as what is researched and taught. This in turn relates to changing perspectives affecting policy, practice and research both in Canada and internationally. However, as will also be shown, there are evident and persistent structural inequities in the Canadian academy and the discipline of political science that have deep roots in Canada. Of particular importance in explaining these patterns is Canada’s foundation and legacy as a settler-colony, a feature thrown into sharp relief in light of current efforts at “reconciliation” between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians. It is therefore argued that the state of diversity in Canadian political science needs to be understood in relation to both evolving ideas as well as the historical formation of the Canadian state and social power.

This response builds upon ideas introduced in Charity Hudley et al.'s (2020) target article by focusing on the themes of excellence and racial justice. In addition to relying on previous academic work on race and racism, I also draw from my own experiences as a person of color in the field of linguistics and as a scholar who works with racially minoritized communities. The primary claims of this paper are that the field of linguistics as a whole benefits from broadening and deepening our conceptualizations of scholarly excellence and from consciously attending to the needs and concerns of scholars and community members from racially minoritized groups. To support these claims, I discuss ways in which institutional structures of universities hinder equity and inclusion by marginalizing contributions of scholars from racially minoritized groups and by promoting extractive and neocolonial work involving minoritized communities. I conclude by offering general principles that can serve as guides for fostering greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in university settings. These principles involve acknowledging present shortcomings, aligning the reward system to a broadened notion of excellence and to inclusion, and embracing creative alternatives.

In this article, I use Boltanski and Thévenot's (2006) work on “logics of justification” to make the case that diversity, defined broadly as engagement with otherness, has limited worth as a “civic argument” in the United States. I argue that “diversity talk” has not been effective in civic spheres because it does not challenge the underlying pluralist architecture of the US political system. Instead, diversity in the civic sphere is regarded as producing conflict or an apolitical “improvement in manners” (Rorty 1999) rather than as a mechanism for citizenship development. This diminishes the ability for diversity to enhance democratic citizenship by fostering the development of a type of civic wisdom necessary for effective decision making in a democratic society.