The UK workforce : realising our potential

for Business, a new UK-wide network of employer-led Sector Skills Councils (SSCs), supported and directed by the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA). The purpose of Skills for Business is to bring employers more centre stage in articulating their skill needs and delivering skills-based productivity improvements that can enhance UK competitiveness and the effectiveness of public services. The remit of the SSDA includes establishing and progressing the network of SSCs, supporting the SSCs in the development of their own capacity and providing a range of core services. Additionally the SSDA has responsibility for representing sectors not covered by a SSC and co-ordinating action on cross cutting and generic skills issues. Research, and developing a sound evidence base, are central to the SSDA and to Skills for Business as a whole. It is crucial in: analysing productivity and skill needs; identifying priorities for action; and improving the evolving policy and skills agenda. It is vital that the SSDA research team works closely with partners already involved in skills and related research to generally drive up the quality o

Heriot-Watt SCHOOLS physics laboratory

A collaborative venture, set up by the Physics Department of Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, to provide practical support for school Physics departments in carrying out and assessing the practical elements of SQA Higher and Advanced Higher Physics. The venture allows school students to work in a university environment and in this way strengthens the links between school and university

A comparison of types and thicknesses of adhesive felt padding in the reduction of peak plantar pressure of the foot: a case report

Introduction: This case report will have implications for any area of medicine that aims to redistribute plantar pressure away from a particular area of the foot. This could be for example in the short-term care of people with diabetes, people who have insensate feet and people with poor blood supply to the foot coupled with plantar ulceration. The aim of the study was to investigate which type and thickness of Hapla felt padding is the most effective at redistributing plantar pressure of the foot. This case report is the first of its kind. Case presentation: The participant was a healthy 50-year-old white man with a high peak plantar pressure over the second metatarsal head of both feet; he required removal of a plantar callus on a periodic basis. Conclusions: The reader should note that different types of Hapla felt padding provide different forms of redistribution of plantar pressure on the foot. In the clinic it may be useful to measure peak plantar pressure using F-Scan before deciding on the most appropriate type of felt padding