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There is overwhelming disappointment about exclusion of opportunities to re-engage those who think learning is not for them in the British GovernmentEs white paper on 14-19. The report focuses on low participation but does not take about re-engagement.

The principal of Lewisham College, involved in skills training of business employees, believes that the current economic recession is not to be considered a setback for the training sector. She suggests that training opportunities available from adapted businesses need to be tapped with flexibility, and appropriate staff training provided to suit specific employer needs.

The Public Accounts Committee has proposed that the responsibilities and structures in the learning and skills sector be rationalised and simplified. The proposals are nothing new, as experts have often criticised the system for being too complex.

Vocational education could use a framework within which to operate to provide a clear understanding of what is available. This could be shared by teachers, students, employers, parents and the wider world.

The principal of a further education colleges describes being on sabbatical and how experiencing time away from one's regular jobs provides an opportunity to take stock and come back refreshed and with new ideas.

It is argued that the proposals of Mike Tomlinson for reform of the 14-19 qualification system will create a fairer system for all students. The current system devalues those students to vocational rather than academic skills, while the new system proposed by Tomlinson will enable all students to realise their aspirations.

• Nature Spots provide a positive environment in which youths can make connections between problems facing the entire planet and this one special place they have begun to value. • Teachers can take students to a natural area and then explain to them that they should find themselves a spot where they can sit comfortably and. if possible, be at a distance from other students. The kids are then sent to find their spots and told to return when they hear a particular sound from the teacher - a bird call or a flute maybe. [Extracted from the article]

Erythropoietin production in response to hypoxic-hypoxia is markedly reduced in the newborn when compared to the adult rat. This response improves steadily with age and reaches adult values at about 4 wk. When animals of the same age are stimulated with anemic-hypoxia, considerably higher levels of erythropoietin are found. The erythropoietin level is proportional to the degree of anemia and independent of the age of the animal. Extraction of erythropoietin from tissue homogenates revealed a paralelism between the plasma and kidney erythropoietin content, while no erythropoietin could be extracted from liver tissue at any age. The lack of response to hypoxia in the newborn appears to be related to the high hemoglobin oxygen affinity during the neonatal period, which facilitates oxygen loading. Newborn rats have a very low intraerythrocytic concentration of 2-3 DPG and a marked shift to the left in the oxygen hemoglobin dissociation curve that slowly increases to adult values at 4 wk of age. The response to anemia on the other hand, appears to be normal and not affected by age or by hemoglobin oxygen affinity. These studies suggest that the newborn rat, when properly stimulated, is able to produce normal amounts of erythropoietin, most likely renal in origin.

The activities of several enzymes involved in glycoprotein synthesis were measured in the livers of rats (L) fed diets with 67% of calories as lard and compared with those of rats (G) fed 67% glucose diets for 5–9 days. Glucosamine synthetase activity was not influenced by diet, but the activities of UDP-N-acetylglucosaminyl, galactosyl and sialyltransferases were significantly greater in the livers of the rats fed the glucose diet than in L rat livers. The content of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine was also higher in G livers than in the L group. Activities of glycosidases and of sugar nucleotide pyrophosphatases and phosphatases were the same on both diets. Serum total hexosamine was higher in L than in G rats. These findings are discussed in relation to earlier reports that liver plasma membranes from G rats contained more glycoprotein carbohydrate than L membranes.