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2. Research Design and Methods
Int J Med Sci 2007; 4(1):19-27. doi:10.7150/ijms.4.19
Strength training improves muscle quality and insulin sensitivity in Hispanic older adults with type 2 diabetes
Naomi Brooks1, Jennifer E. Layne1, Patricia L. Gordon1 3, Ronenn Roubenoff1 2, Miriam E. Nelson1 2 4, Carmen Castaneda-Sceppa1 2
1. Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston MA, USA.
2. The Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston MA, USA.
3. Department of Physiological Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
4. John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC) License. See http://ivyspring.com/terms for full terms and conditions.
Brooks N, Layne JE, Gordon PL, Roubenoff R, Nelson ME, Castaneda-Sceppa C. Strength training improves muscle quality and insulin sensitivity in Hispanic older adults with type 2 diabetes. Int J Med Sci 2007; 4(1):19-27. doi:10.7150/ijms.4.19. Available from http://www.medsci.org/v04p0019.htm
Hispanics are at increased risk of morbidity and mortality due to their high prevalence of diabetes and poor glycemic control. Strength training is the most effective lifestyle intervention to increase muscle mass but limited data is available in older adults with diabetes. We determined the influence of strength training on muscle quality (strength per unit of muscle mass), skeletal muscle fiber hypertrophy, and metabolic control including insulin resistance (Homeostasis Model Assessment –HOMA-IR), C-Reactive Protein (CRP), adiponectin and Free Fatty Acid (FFA) levels in Hispanic older adults. Sixty-two community-dwelling Hispanics (>55 y) with type 2 diabetes were randomized to 16 weeks of strength training plus standard care (ST group) or standard care alone (CON group). Skeletal muscle biopsies and biochemical measures were taken at baseline and 16 weeks. The ST group show improved muscle quality (mean±SE: 28±3) vs CON (-4±2, p<0.001) and increased type I (860±252µm2) and type II fiber cross-sectional area (720±285µm2) compared to CON (type I: -164±290µm2, p=0.04; and type II: -130±336µm2, p=0.04). This was accompanied by reduced insulin resistance [ST: median (interquartile range) -0.7(3.6) vs CON: 0.8(3.8), p=0.05]; FFA (ST: -84±30µmol/L vs CON: 149±48µmol/L, p=0.02); and CRP [ST: -1.3(2.9)mg/L vs CON: 0.4(2.3)mg/L, p=0.05]. Serum adiponectin increased with ST [1.0(1.8)µg/mL] compared to CON [-1.2(2.2)µg/mL, p<0.001]. Strength training improved muscle quality and whole-body insulin sensitivity. Decreased inflammation and increased adiponectin levels were related with improved metabolic control. Further studies are needed to understand the mechanisms associated with these findings. However, these data show that strength training is an exercise modality to consider as an adjunct of standard of care in high risk populations with type 2 diabetes.
Keywords: diabetes, strength training, Hispanic, skeletal muscle, insulin sensitivity
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by hyperglycemia and disturbances of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism [1]. Diet, exercise and weight loss are cornerstones of diabetes management to improve glycemic control, reduce muscle wasting and mortality [2]. Targeted interventions are needed to improve long-term diabetes control in high risk groups, like Hispanic older adults for whom diabetes and poor glycemic control are prevalent [3].
Endurance training has traditionally been advocated for people with diabetes [4]. More recently, strength training has been tested as a means to build muscle mass, strength and quality in healthy individuals and those suffering from chronic conditions like diabetes. Muscle quality, defined as maximal force production per unit of muscle mass, may be a better indicator of muscle function than strength alone [5]. There are many properties of skeletal muscle which contribute to muscle quality including fiber type, composition and size; contractile properties; innervation; capillarity and metabolic capacity [6]. Muscle quality has been shown to be lower in older than younger individuals [7] and recently, it has been noted that people with diabetes have significantly lower muscle quality than those without the disease [8].
Adipokines are soluble proteins released from adipocytes in response to metabolic signals and are involved in insulin resistance and inflammation [9]. In contrast to other adipokines, adiponectin levels decrease with increasing fat mass and higher levels of plasma adiponectin are independently associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes in healthy individuals [10]. Adiponectin also has an anti-inflammatory action [11]. Since diabetes and obesity are considered chronic inflammatory states, we chose to measure a prominent systemic marker of low-grade tissue inflammation, C-reactive Protein (CRP) [12]. Circulating levels of CRP are associated with adiponectin [12] and individuals with the metabolic syndrome have higher levels of CRP [13].
There is relatively sparse amount of literature on high-intensity strength training and diabetes in high risk populations. Maiorana et al. [14] circuit training intervention found increase in muscle mass and strength, and cardiovascular fitness. Similalry, Cauza et al. [15] , Tokmakidis et al. [16], and Eriksson et al [17] showed that moderate-intensity strength training is an effective exercise modality to achieve glycemic control and improve insulin sensitivity in subjects with type 2 diabetes. More recently, two randomized control trials of high-intensity strength training by Dunstan et al. [18] and Castaneda et al. [19], with the latter representing the parent study from which the present investigation has been derived; have shown that long-term strength significantly improves glycemic control and increases skeletal muscle mass. In addition, strength training has also been shown to influence a number of factors associated with whole-body insulin sensitivity such as CRP and pro-inflammatory cytokines [20]. A few recent studies have investigated exercise training on circulating adiponectin levels. These studies have shown that greater increases in adiponectin levels are associated with higher intensities of endurance exercise training [21, 22] and strength training [23].
To our knowledge no previous studies have investigated the effects of high-intensity strength training on muscle quality and whole-body insulin sensitivity in a high risk population of older adults with diabetes. This is why we chose to conduct this investigation in Hispanic older adults with type 2 diabetes. We hypothesized that 16 weeks of high-intensity strength training would result in improved muscle quality, skeletal muscle fiber hypertrophy as well as improved metabolic control (as measured by reduced insulin resistance and inflammation) in these study subjects.
Subject characteristics
Sixty-two Hispanic individuals, 55 years and older with type 2 diabetes were randomized to 16 weeks of strength training plus standard care (ST group, n=31) or standard care alone (CON group, n=31). General methodology has been previously reported [19]. Briefly, diabetes was confirmed by a fasting plasma glucose ≥ 7.0 mmol/L or use of diabetic medications. Exclusion criteria included the following: myocardial infarction (within past 6 months), any unstable chronic condition including dementia, alcoholism, dialysis, retinal hemorrhage or detachment, or current participation in resistance training. Written informed consent was given in Spanish, as approved by the Institutional Review Board at Tufts University-New England Medical Center.
Strength training (ST) group
Subjects reported to the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) 3x/week for 16 weeks for exercise training. Exercise sessions included 35-min strength training using five pneumatic machines: upper back, chest press, leg press, knee extension and flexion (Keiser Sports Health Equipment Inc., Fresno, CA) with 3 sets of 8 repetitions on each machine preceded by 5-min warm-up and ended with 5-min cool-down. Training intensity during wks 1-8 were 60-80% of baseline 1-repetition maximum (1RM), and during wks 10-14 were 70-80% of mid-study 1RM. Postprandial blood glucose was monitored before and after exercise using a One Touch Glucometer (Lifescan Inc., Johnson & Johnson Co., Milpitas, CA).
Control (CON) group
Subjects randomized to this group were asked to continue their usual standard of care. This included actions known to favorably affect health outcomes such as: glycemic control, blood glucose self-monitoring, engaging in healthy food choices and physical activity, and compliance with medications and doctor's visits [24]. Subjects in this group received phone calls every other week and came to the HNRCA for testing at baseline and 16 weeks. We chose this approach rather than an attention-control to test the effect of standard of care alone.
Baseline measures were taken prior to randomization. Post-intervention measures were performed in a blinded manner except for muscle strength.
Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from body weight and height as kg/m2. Whole-body and regional lean and fat mass were determined by Dual-X ray absorptiometry (DXA) using an Hologic QDR2000 (Waltham, MA) scanner operating in array mode with software 5.64A, with a coefficient of variation of 1.4% and 1.8% for lean and fat mass, respectively [25]. DXA has been validated against multicompartment methods and in-vivo neutron inelastic scattering [25]. Waist circumference was determined by standard technique.
Muscle strength 1RM was assessed twice at baseline and once during week 16 on each training machine. Initial training loads and analyses used the highest of the two 1RM values assessed at baseline. The coefficient of variation for repeated measures at baseline was less than 10%. Upper and lower body strength at baseline and 16 weeks was calculated as the sum of 1RM measures for each upper and lower body exercise performed.
Muscle quality
Skeletal muscle quality as defined by the ratio of strength per unit of muscle mass [7]. There are a number of ways to express muscle quality. We chose to calculate muscle quality from leg 1RM strength (leg press, knee extension and knee flexion) in kg divided by leg lean body mass in kg, without bone mineral content, as measured by DXA. The appendicular fat-free mass derived from leg measurement of DXA is assumed to be a valid estimation of skeletal muscle [26].
Skeletal muscle histology: Fiber type and cross-sectional area (CSA)
Skeletal muscle samples were obtained from a sub-set of individuals who agreed to have the procedure (n = 24 ST, n = 18 CON). Percutaneous needle biopsies were taken from the non-dominant vastus lateralis using a 5 mm Bergstrom needle [27] at baseline and 72 h after final 1RM strength testing (wk 16). Muscle samples were oriented longitudinally, mounted in embedding medium (Tissue-Tek OCT, Miles Laboratories, Elkhart, IN), and frozen in isopentane cooled in liquid nitrogen. Transverse sections (10µm) were cut using a Leica CM1850-Cryostat (Leica Microsystem, Nussloch, Germany). Staining for myofibrillar adenosine triphosphatase (mATPase) was done at pH 4.3 [28]. Type I and II muscle fiber cross-sectional areas were determined in 75-250 fibers for each subject at each time point. Samples were analyzed under light microscopy and areas determined using an Image Software version 1.39 (Dr. W. Rasband, National Institute of Aging, Bethesda, MD), modified for our laboratory by Chun-ShanYam Ph.D. (SyLoc Consulting LLP, Lexington, MA) with CV of 3% [28].
Biochemical measures
Fasting blood measures were taken at baseline and 72 h after final 1RM strength testing (wk 16). Fasting plasma glucose was determined by the hexokinase enzymatic method (Sigma Diagnostics, St. Louis, MO) and insulin levels by radioimmunoassay (ICN Biomedical Inc., Costa Mesa, CA) with CV of 5%. Free fatty acids (FFA) were determined by in vitro enzymatic colorimetric endpoint method for quantification of non-esterified FFA in serum (Walo Chemicals USA, Inc., Richmond, VA) with CV of 6%. Serum C-Reactive Protein (CRP) levels were measured by an immunoturbidimetric commercially available kit in a Cobas Fara II automated centrifugal analyzer (CRP SPQ Test System, DiaSorin Inc., Stillwater, MN) with CV of 5%. Serum adiponectin was determined in duplicate using a highly sensitive, quantitative sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique (Human Adiponectin/Acrp30 Quantikine Immunoassay, R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN) with CV of 3%.
HOMA-IR
Whole-body insulin resistance was estimated using the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) which correlates well with the euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp in people with diabetes [29]. The following formula was used: HOMA-IR = [fasting Glucose (mmol/L)*fasting Insulin (uU/ml)]/22.5.
Subject Monitoring
Subjects continued their usual medical care and received Spanish translated recommendations for diabetes self-management [24]. They were not given dietary counseling other than to follow standard recommendations given by their health care providers. Both groups were administered a weekly symptom checklist to document blood glucose self-monitoring, diabetes control, medical visits, medication changes, acute illness, and hospitalizations. Past seven-day, self-reported leisure and household physical activity was monitored using the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly [30]. Dietary intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire adapted for the Hispanic population [31].
Baseline Subject Characteristics
ST Group N=31
CON Group N=31
P valuea
Age (years) 66 ± 2 66 ± 1 0.76
Sex (male/female) 21/10 19/12 0.59
BMI (kg/m2) 30.9 ± 1.1 31.2 ± 1.0 0.81
Whole-Body Fat Mass (kg) 35.0 ± 2.2 33.7 ± 2.4 0.70
Waist Circumference (cm) 99.7 ± 2.3 100.1 ± 2.6 0.63
Fasting Glucose (mmol/L) 8.79 ± 0.48 9.85 ± 0.69 0.21
Fasting Insulin (pmol/L) 116 (124) 115 (131) 0.58
HOMA-IR 7.1 (5.7) 6.7 (9.0) 0.96
Glycosylated Hb A1C (%) 8.7 ± 0.3 8.4 ± 0.3 0.58
Diabetes Duration (y) 8 ± 1 11 ± 1 0.22
Insulin Therapy (n) 15 5 0.02
Data are mean ± SE except for not normally distributed variables (insulin and HOMA-IR) which show median (interquartile range).
a Baseline comparisons between groups were assessed by independent sample t-test comparisons for continuous and log transformed variables or Chi-square for categorical variables.
Statistical analysis was based on intention-to-treat analysis using SPSS 12.0 for Windows (SPSS, Inc., Evanston, IL). Results were considered statistically significant with a two-tailed p-value < 0.05. Data are shown as mean and standard error (SE), except for non-normally distributed variables (insulin, HOMA-IR, CRP, adiponectin) for which group median and interquartile ranges are shown. The non-normally distributed variables were log-transformed, checked for normality after log transformation, and used as continuous log-transformed variables for analyses. Baseline comparisons were assessed by independent sample t-test or Chi-square as appropriate. Repeated measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to assess differences in outcome measures (muscle quality, muscle fiber size and metabolic parameters) between the two groups across time, as well as time-by-group interactions adjusting for insulin therapy as this was the only variable different between groups at baseline (Table 1), and for the observed changes in leisure time physical activity and diabetes medications observed after the intervention. Secondary model-building stepwise regression analyses of the change (weeks 16-0) in type I muscle fiber CSA (as the dependent variable) were carried out by group in order to determine the associations of selected factors on the change in type I CSA. Independent variables included in the models were the changes in HOMA-IR, CRP, adiponectin, and FFA.
Baseline characteristics and study monitoring
The subject characteristics at baseline are shown in Table 1. The ST and CON groups did not differ by age, sex, body composition or metabolic characteristics, except that a higher proportion of prescribed insulin therapy was found in participants randomized to the ST group. As previously described [19], diabetic medication regimens were reduced in 22 out of the 31 (72 %) subjects in the ST group with 13 subjects having a reduction in sulfonylureas, 7 in biguanides, and 2 in insulin therapy. In contrast, CON subjects showed the opposite pattern. Thirteen out of 31 (42 %) subjects experienced an increase in their diabetes medication dosages, with 4 subjects having an increase in sulfonylureas, 6 in biguanides, and 3 in insulin therapy. The changes in medications, as prescribed by subjects' primary care physicians, were different between groups (p= 0.03). Another change resulting from the intervention was a significant increase in leisure time physical activity in the ST group, outside of training regimen, as compared to CON subjects (ST: 187 ± 27 kcal/wk vs CON: -50 ± 19 kcal/week; p<0.001). Finally, there was no change in dietary intake as a result of this intervention (data not shown).
Muscle quality and muscle fiber size
Compliance to strength training was 90 ± 10 %. Muscle strength, lean tissue mass, muscle quality, and vastus lateralis muscle fiber cross-sectional area are shown in Table 2. Mean upper and lower body muscle strength was significantly improved in with ST compared to CON subjects. This is not surprising given that the mean training intensity achieved by the ST group was 70.2 ± 1.3 % of 1RM (range: 66 to 75 %). Whole-body lean body mass also increased in the ST group, while leg lean tissue mass did not change between the groups. Muscle quality, a functional measurement of strength per unit volume of muscle (calculated from lower body muscle strength values in kg and leg lean tissue mass in kg), was significantly improved in the ST group vs CON group. Finally, we observed hypertrophy of type I and type II muscle fiber CSA in the ST group compared to CON subjects.
Metabolic control
As shown in Table 3, overall glycemic control (as determined by glycosylated hemoglobin A1C levels) was improved with strength training, while there was virtually no change in the CON group. Similarly, insulin resistance determined by HOMA-IR, was significantly reduced in the ST group after 16 weeks of training compared with the CON group. The change in HOMA-IR was driven by a reduction in insulin concentration in the ST group, albeit not statistically significant when compared to the CON group. In addition, serum FFA and CRP levels decreased in the ST group compared to CON subjects. Finally, circulating adiponectin concentrations increased significantly in the ST group compared with controls.
ST Group
CON Group
Upper Body Muscle Strength (kg)
Baseline 66 ± 4 62 ± 4
Final 90 ± 6 24 ± 2 58 ± 4 - 4 ± 2 <0.001
Lower Body Muscle Strength (kg)
Baseline 338 ± 27 300 ± 28
Final 568 ± 34 173 ± 19 285 ± 27 - 19 ± 7 <0.001
Whole-Body Lean Tissue Mass (kg)
Baseline 44.3 ± 1.7 44.9 ± 1.9
Final 45.5 ± 1.9 1.1 ± 0.3 44.8 ± 1.7 0.4 ± 0.2 0.04
Leg Lean Tissue Mass (kg)
Final 100 ± 6 28 ± 3 48 ± 4 - 4 ± 2 <0.001
Type I muscle fiber area (µm2)
Baseline 4068 ± 256 4546 ± 270
Final 4928 ± 372 860 ± 252 4381 ± 304 - 164 ± 290 0.04
Type II muscle fiber area (µm2)
Data are the mean ± SE of baseline and final values and of the change on each variable in each group.
Muscle Quality data calculated for all participants. Baseline and final muscle biopsies were obtained in a subset of the study population (n = 24 ST; n = 18 CON).
a Time-by-group interactions were assessed by repeated measures ANCOVA of baseline and final values for each variable adjusted for insulin therapy, change in physical activity and change in diabetes medications.
Secondary analyses
We further assessed the association of specific physiological and biochemical measures and the observed changes in type I muscle fiber CSA. Type I fibers were chosen for this analysis because they have higher insulin sensitivity, greater oxidative capacity, more mitochondria, and are more closely associated with leanness than type II fibers [32, 33]. In univariate analysis, there was a negative correlation between the changes observed in type I muscle fiber CSA and those seen for HOMA-IR in the ST group (Figure 1A) but not in the CON group (Figure 1B). This is in line with the strong inverse correlation between glycosylated hemoglobin A1C and muscle cross-sectional area observed by other investigators [17].
There were no associations between the changes in CRP, FFA, adiponectin, lower body muscle strength or leg lean body mass and the change in type I fiber CSA for either group, nor between the changes in HOMA-IR with any of the changes observed in CRP, FFA, adiponectin levels in either group. Using multiple regression models, we found that the change in HOMA-IR was the only independent variable negatively associated with the change seen in type I muscle fiber CSA after 16 weeks of strength training, accounting for 53% of its variability (p=0.03). There were no variables significantly associated with the change in type I CSA in the CON group.
Univariate linear association between the absolute change in type I muscle fiber cross-sectional area and the change in HOMA-IR for each subject in the ST group (A: r= - 0.50, p=0.01) and the CON group (B: r= - 0.10, p=0.42) are shown.
(Click on the image to enlarge.)
Metabolic Parameters
Glycosylated Hemoglobin Concentrations (%)
Baseline 8.7 ± 1.8 7.8 ± 1.6
Final 7.6 ± 1.5 - 1.0 ± 0.2 8.3 ± 1.3 0.4 ± 0.3 <0.001
Glucose (mmol/L)
Final 7.9 ± 0.4 - 0.9 ± 0.5 9.5 ± 0.6 - 0.3 ± 0.8 0.92
Insulin (pmol/L)
Baseline 116 (124) 115 (131)
Final 105 ( 70) - 16 (69) 133 (126) 6 (86) 0.27
Baseline 7.1 (5.7) 6.7 (9.0)
Final 5.3 (5.5) - 0.7 (3.6) 6.4 (6.8) 0.8 (3.8) 0.05
FFA (µmol/L)
Baseline 656.4 ± 41.9 468.5 ± 38.3
Final 572.4 ± 45.3 - 83.6 ± 30.3 612.2 ± 53 148.9 ± 47.7 0.02
CRP (mg/L)
Adiponectin (µg/mL)
Final 6.6 (5.4) 1.0 (1.8) 6.7 (4.6) - 1.2 (2.2) <0.001
Data are the mean ± SE or median (interquartile range) for variables not normally distributed (insulin, HOMA-IR, CRP and adiponectin) of baseline and final values and of the change on each variable in each group.
.a Time-by-group interactions were assessed by repeated measures ANCOVA of baseline and final values for each variable, adjusted for insulin therapy, change in physical activity and change in diabetes medications.
Sixteen weeks of high intensity strength training resulted in increased upper and lower body strength, improved muscle quality, and muscle fiber hypertrophy. This was paralleled by favorable metabolic changes in biochemical parameters known to influence insulin sensitivity including increased adiponectin levels and decreased FFA and CRP levels. The improvements in muscle quality and metabolic control were associated with strength training in this population of community-dwelling Hispanic older adults with diabetes.
Hypertrophy of type I muscle fibers, such as that seen in the present study, is important given that these fibers are more insulin sensitive [33]; they contain a greater oxidative and mitochondria capacity, and higher capillary density [32]. Therefore, it is not surprising to find that the muscle hypertrophy resulting from strength training was associated with the increases in whole-body insulin sensitivity we observed, because skeletal muscle constitutes the target tissue where most of the insulin-stimulated glucose uptake takes place [34].
There is growing interest in muscle quality which has been demonstrated to be a predictor of health status and mortality [35, 36] and a better indicator of muscle function than strength alone [5]. Elderly individuals have reduced muscle quality compared to young adults [37], and diabetics have significantly lower muscle quality than non-diabetic controls [8]. Since in this diabetic group, those undergoing strength training significantly increased their muscle quality compared to controls, improved muscle quality and associated functional capacity derived from exercise interventions like this, may ultimately lead to increased quality of life and improved disease outcomes in people with diabetes.
We also investigated specific parameters of metabolic control known to influence insulin sensitivity, including adiponectin, CRP and FFA. Plasma adiponectin is positively associated with enhanced insulin signal transduction in skeletal muscle [38]. In the present study, subjects who strength trained showed increased levels of adiponectin. Interestingly, other studies investigating adiponectin levels have shown varying results. High intensity endurance training in nondiabetic individuals showed decreased insulin resistance and increased adiponectin levels [21]. Four weeks of endurance training increased circulating adiponectin levels and also mRNA levels of adiponectin receptors in muscle [22]. However, another recent study demonstrated that higher intensity endurance exercise provided greater increases in adiponectin, and reductions in insulin resistance in healthy elderly subjects than lower intensity exercise [23]. Our study further exemplifies this finding with high-intensity strength training in elderly diabetic individuals. It has recently been reported that insulin resistance causes a down-regulation of adiponectin receptors [10], which may be mediated by PI3-kinase/FOXO1 dependent pathway [10]. Further investigation is needed to understand the mechanisms contributing to this down-regulation of adiponectin receptors and the influence of muscle factors on circulating adiponectin levels.
The inflammatory response is correlated with multiple metabolic markers of insulin resistance. We measured CRP, a systemic marker of low-grade systemic inflammation [12]. It has recently been shown that ten months of aerobic exercise reduced CRP levels in elderly subjects [39] and aerobic exercise training combined with a dietary intervention in diabetic men reduced their CRP levels [40]. The decrease in CRP levels we observed in the present study suggests that the reduction in the inflammatory state of diabetes may be an important factor leading to improved insulin sensitivity and better metabolic control. Furthermore, since adiponectin has anti-inflammatory actions [11] and we showed a significant increase in this adipokine, the reduction in inflammation may be related to this increase.
Moreover, the positive impact of strength training on whole-body insulin resistance was demonstrated by decreased levels of plasma FFA after 16 weeks of exercise. Plasma FFA negatively influence insulin resistance and excess lipid availability leads to increased intracellular concentration of FFA and triglycerides, particularly in skeletal muscle and liver [41]. This phenomenon plays a role in the insulin resistance of skeletal muscle and also the increased plasma FFA noted in people with diabetes. The decrease in circulating FFA may be, in part due to increased fatty acid oxidation in skeletal muscle [42] and increased adiponectin levels [43]. A reduction in FFA leads to the decrease in intramuscular triglyceride levels which have found to be associated with improved insulin sensitivity [44].
This study used a randomized, high-intensity strength training program involving a large cohort of community-dwelling Hispanic older adults with poorly controlled diabetes and provided a practical means for improvement in muscle quality and better metabolic control. In addition, strength training provides a potentially more alluring means of exercise for people with type 2 diabetes, the majority of whom may be overweight and sedentary for most of their lives, and may find endurance exercise unappealing and difficult. In this study, the control subjects showed an overall worsening of the physiologic, biochemical and metabolic variables measured. This may be due to poor diabetes self-management often reported among people with diabetes or due to the socio-demographic characteristics of the study population in terms of health care use and access [45].
It is also noteworthy that at baseline subjects randomized to strength training were prescribed more insulin therapy than those in the control group. However, the beneficial effects of strength training we found were seen even in these participants, who by virtue of their insulin treatment may have been more prone to catabolic effects of diabetes and poorer glycemic control, and more resistant to the antidiabetic action of strength training. Furthermore, the results presented here were all adjusted for insulin use.
It could be argued that the euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp technique rather than HOMA-IR should have been used as the measure of insulin sensitivity [46]. Although the clamp technique is considered the gold standard, and a measure of choice given its precision, HOMA-IR has been tested for its comparability to the gold standard in various populations including those with diabetes [47]. Moreover, measures of plasma glucose and insulin use to derive HOMA-IR are more clinically relevant, and their changes can be followed more closely by the personal physician of an individual with diabetes.
The generalizability of these findings is limited given the selected population studied. However, long-term strength training has been shown to improve glycemic control in Caucasians [18] as well as in Hispanics [19], suggesting that the beneficial effects of this exercise modality are not population specific.
In order to investigate the mechanisms leading to improved insulin sensitivity with exercise training, it is necessary to analyze some of the components of the insulin signaling pathway in skeletal muscle. Holten et al. [48] investigated a number of important biochemical muscle adaptations in both diabetic and non-diabetic individuals in response to 4 weeks of one-legged low-intensity strength training and reported possible mechanisms leading to a training effect including increased protein content of GLUT4, insulin receptor, glycogen synthase and protein-kinase B (PKB) without an increase in muscle mass. However, they could not draw conclusive functional relevance on the changes in components of the insulin signaling protein expression. We were unable to investigate such mechanisms in the present study given the limited tissue obtained and the large variability observed in these measures provided by our study sample. Interestingly, in the Holten study they used the same subject to test one-legged strength training effect as compared to the contralateral control leg, to reduce the variation seen in these measures [48]. However, given the design of this study limited comparisons with our study can be made. Thus, further studies are warranted to establish the relationship and possible mechanisms between strength training and improved skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity. In addition, the age of participants, type of exercise training, and study design need further investigation in relation to changes in the insulin cascade, to provide more conclusive and comparable evidence.
In conclusion, the findings of the present study suggest that 16 weeks of strength training results in improved muscle quality, skeletal muscle fiber hypertrophy, accompanied by concomitant changes in biochemical markers known that contribute to whole-body insulin sensitivity; namely, reduced HOMA-IR, increased adiponectin levels and decreased FFA and CRP levels. Further studies are needed to establish the mechanisms associated with these relationships. However, these data show that strength training is an exercise modality worth considering as an adjunct of standard of care for high risk populations with diabetes.
This work was funded in part by the Brookdale Foundation, the USDA ARS agreement 58‑1950‑9‑001, the NIH General Clinical Research Center M01 RR000054, and the International Life Sciences Institute North America. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or any of the funding sources. We are grateful to Ms. Huynh Thanhthao for her technical assistance with muscle fiber analyses, the kind and valuable cooperation of the study participants, the GCRC and HNRCA staff, and Keiser Sports Health Equipment, Inc. Dr. Carmen Castaneda is a recipient of a Brookdale National Fellowship.
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19. Castaneda C, Layne JE, Munoz-Orians L. et al. A randomized controlled trial of resistance exercise training to improve glycemic control in older adults with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2002 ;25:2335-41
20. Castaneda C, Gordon PL, Parker RC, Uhlin KL, Roubenoff R, Levey AS. Resistance training to reduce the malnutrition-inflammation complex syndrome of chronic kidney disease. Am J Kidney Dis. 2004 ;43:607-16
21. Marcell TJ, McAuley KA, Traustadottir T, Reaven PD. Exercise training is not associated with improved levels of C-reactive protein or adiponectin. Metabolism. 2005 ;54:533-41
22. Bluher M, Bullen JW Jr, Lee JH. et al. Circulating adiponectin and expression of adiponectin receptors in human skeletal muscle: associations with metabolic parameters and insulin resistance and regulation by physical training. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2006 ;91:2310-6
23. Fatouros IG, Tournis S, Leontsini D. et al. Leptin and adiponectin responses in overweight inactive elderly following resistance training and detraining are intensity related. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005 ;90:5970-7
24. American Diabetes Association. Standards of medical care for patients with diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care. 2002 ;25:S33-S49
25. Clasey JL, Hartman ML, Kanaley J. et al. Body composition by DEXA in older adults: accuracy and influence of scan mode. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997 ;29:560-7
26. Wang ZM, Visser M, Ma R. et al. Skeletal muscle mass: evaluation of neutron activation and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry methods. J Appl Physiol. 1996 ;80:824-31
27. Evans WJ, Phinney SD, Young VR. Suction applied to a muscle biopsy maximizes sample size. Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise. 1982 ;14:101-2
28. Castaneda C, Gordon PL, Fielding RA, Evans WJ, Crim MC. Marginal protein intake results in reduced plasma IGF-I levels and skeletal muscle fiber atrophy in elderly women. J Nutr Health Aging. 2000 ;4:85-90
29. Emoto M, Nishizawa Y, Maekawa K. et al. Homeostasis model assessment as a clinical index of insulin resistance in type 2 diabetic patients treated with sulfonylureas. Diabetes Care. 1999 ;22:818-22
30. Washburn RA, Smith KW, Jette AM, Janney CA. The Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE): development and evaluation. J Clin Epidemiol. 1993 ;46:153-62
31. Tucker KL, Maras J, Bermudez OI. Adapting a food frequency questionnaire to assess diets of Puerto Rican and Non-Hispanic adults. Am J Epidemiol. 1998 ;148:507-18
32. Kelley DE, Goodpaster BH, Storlien L. Muscle triglyceride and insulin resistance. Annu Rev Nutr. 2002 ;22:325-46
33. James DE, Jenkins AB, Kraegen EW. Heterogeneity of insulin action in individual muscles in vivo: euglycemic clamp studies in rats. Am J Physiol. 1985 ;248:E567-74
34. DeFronzo RA, Ferrannini E, Sato Y, Felig P, Wahren J. Synergistic interaction between exercise and insulin on peripheral glucose uptake. J Clin Invest. 1981 ;68:1468-74
35. Newman AB, Haggerty CL, Goodpaster B. et al. Strength and muscle quality in a well-functioning cohort of older adults: the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2003 ;51:323-30
36. Newman AB, Kupelian V, Visser M. et al. Strength, but not muscle mass, is associated with mortality in the health, aging and body composition study cohort. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2006 ;61:72-7
37. Metter EJ, Lynch N, Conwit R, Lindle R, Tobin J, Hurley B. Muscle quality and age: cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 1999 ;54:B207-18
38. Stefan N, Vozarova B, Funahashi T. et al. Plasma adiponectin concentration is associated with skeletal muscle insulin receptor tyrosine phosphorylation, and low plasma concentration precedes a decrease in whole-body insulin sensitivity in humans. Diabetes. 2002 ;51:1884-8
39. Kohut ML, McCann DA, Russell DW. et al. Aerobic exercise, but not flexibility/resistance exercise, reduces serum IL-18, CRP, and IL-6 independent of beta-blockers, BMI, and psychosocial factors in older adults. Brain Behav Immun. 2006 ;20:201-9
40. Roberts CK, Won D, Pruthi S, Lin SS, Barnard RJ. Effect of a diet and exercise intervention on oxidative stress, inflammation and monocyte adhesion in diabetic men. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2006 ;73:249-59
41. Saltiel AR. New perspectives into the molecular pathogenesis and treatment of type 2 diabetes. Cell. 2001 ;104:517-29
42. Yamauchi T, Kamon J, Waki H. et al. The fat-derived hormone adiponectin reverses insulin resistance associated with both lipoatrophy and obesity. Nat Med. 2001 ;7:941-6
43. Pittas AG, Joseph NA, Greenberg AS. Adipocytokines and insulin resistance. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004 ;89:447-52
44. Boden G, Shulman GI. Free fatty acids in obesity and type 2 diabetes: defining their role in the development of insulin resistance and beta-cell dysfunction. Eur J Clin Invest. 2002 ;32(Suppl 3):14-23
45. Smedley BD, Stith AY, Nelson AR. Unequal treatment: confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. 2002
46. Matthews DR, Hosker JP, Rudenski AS, Naylor BA, Treacher DF, Turner RC. Homeostasis model assessment: insulin resistance and beta-cell function from fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations in man. Diabetologia. 1985 ;28:412-9
47. Haffner SM, Miettinen H, Stern MP. The homeostasis model in the San Antonio Heart Study. Diabetes Care. 1997 ;20:1087-92
48. Holten MK, Zacho M, Gaster M, Juel C, Wojtaszewski JF, Dela F. Strength training increases insulin-mediated glucose uptake, GLUT4 content, and insulin signaling in skeletal muscle in patients with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes. 2004 ;53:294-305
Correspondence to: Carmen Castaneda-Sceppa, M.D., Ph.D., Tufts University, 711 Washington St.; Boston, MA 02111. Telephone (617) 556-3081 Fax (617) 556-3083 E-mail carmen.sceppaedu
Received 2006-11-8


In this scenario, you'll learn how to deploy an ASP.NET Core application with .NET Core as a Docker Container.
The example application is a ASP.NET Core MVC API. Packages and dependencies are downloaded from NuGet.
In this case, the base image is the official Microsoft DotNet Image. The image has .NET Core runtime and tooling configured. Everything our approach needs.
To deploy the ASP.NET Core application we need to create a directory for our application and set it as our working directory. The next stage is to define the dependencies of our application, defined in the project.json file. We copy this file into the /app directory. Once copied we can run dotnet restore to download the required packages.
The first stage is to build the DotNet application.
The second stage defines how the application starts and the ports it's running on.
docker build -t aspnet-app:v0.1 .
Start the newly build image and expose the port 5000 so the web application can be accessed.
You've now successfully built a .NET application as a Docker Image.


Is it always fairly noticeable, a less than subtle reminder of a previous injury of some sort or of a surgical procedure?
Does it necessarily have to be somewhat wide? Elevated? Thick?
When the term "scar" is brought up, many people conjure up an image of something unpleasant or disturbing in appearance – possibly red, elevated and even wide. However, it doesn't have to be this way. Scars just don't get "no respect".
In reality, they are the enduring and final result of the body's amazing and complex mechanism of the healing of wounds. Such wounds can be the result of trauma, bites, burns, piercings, infections, surgery or even self inflicted or placed. Except for the most superficial injury or cut, a wound of the skin will result in a scar which is permanent.
Multiple factors play a role in the ultimate scar that develops from a given injury or as a result of a planned surgical procedure. Some wounds heal with fine imperceptible scars whereas others may end up being wide, irregular, unattractive, tattooed, thick, elevated and/or painful. The special cases of hypertophic scars, keloids and burn scars are discussed in other sections.
How can a wide and/or elevated undesirable and possibly conspicuous scar be improved?
Usually by scar revision surgery.
Scar revision surgery is the generic term used to describe any of a multitude of surgical approaches that a plastic surgeon uses which is designed to improve the appearance, symptoms or problems associated with a less than ideal scar. Most involve the excision of the offending site with a meticulous closure that can employ one or more of a variety of techniques. The procedure may yield a scar that is far less perceptible but it cannot magically erase it without leaving a trace.
Postoperative care is also important in attempting to obtain the best possible outcome. Topical agents such as silicone gel, silicone gel sheeting or Mederma® can be helpful in this regard. It is also important to protect the site from significant sun exposure for at least six to nine months. Regular application of a high SPF broad spectrum sunscreen is recommended (full UVA coverage and a 45 SPF or higher for UVB protection).


One of my daughters likes to put inspirational sayings up on her bedroom walls. We've gotten nice digital prints of a couple of them, and put them in pretty frames. They're all positive and encouraging.
When my girls became teenagers, I thought about posting the following statement somewhere in their rooms.
You can choose your sin, but you can't choose the consequences of your sin.
It's been many years since I heard that quote (and I can't remember where!) I doubt it exactly qualifies as inspirational, but it's definitely true and worth remembering.
They have a free will. In spite of what we've taught them and the truths they know, they will still sin. We all do.
But I want my girls to understand that when they choose to sin, there will be consequences. Some of those sins, perhaps the private ones that no one else knows about, may only affect their personal relationship with God. The fellowship is broken.
Other, more public sins, may have more public consequences. Regardless, when they make the choice to sin, they open themselves up to ramifications.
The point is to hopefully help them understand this concept so that they will stop and think before they make the choice to sin. I think a great Bible verse to reinforce this concept is Galatians 6:7.
What better Bible story to demonstrate this truth than that of Adam and Eve? They chose to sin. Yes, the serpent beguiled Eve, but she took of the forbidden fruit. Then Adam ate also.
What happened at the end of Genesis 3? God allowed them to continue to live on the earth. He clothed them with animal skins. But the consequences of their sin – pain in childbearing, a cursed ground, having to leave the beautiful garden – still had to be suffered.
Not only that, but those consequences still affect us today. So it often is with our sin. The impact of the consequences reaches into other people's lives.
And while it's great to illustrate this to my teenagers, it's every bit as true for me at my "advanced" age as it is for them.
I can choose to gossip, but I don't get to choose whether or not that gossip will be repeated to the person I talked about. I can choose to say something negative about my husband, but I can't choose how hurt he will be if he finds out.
I can worry and doubt God, and the consequence will be the loss of peace that He can provide. When I choose to sin, I open myself up to its consequences.
Some life lessons are hard. That's true whether you're experiencing it yourself, or watching one of your children go through it. And having to live with the consequences of your sin is usually painful in some way.
But as we repent, God forgives. In His mercy and grace, He continues to grow us. And if we will learn from sin's consequences, we can move ahead in victory in our walk with Him.
That's something that we're working to teach our children: that their actions have consequences. And sometimes (most of the time) they don't get to choose what those consequences are. It's an important lesson to learn!
When our girls were younger, it was helpful when there were natural consequences that came about because of their misbehavior. Not every situation had natural consequences, but the lessons seemed to sink in a little more when they did!
Oh, wow: "You can choose your sin, but you can't choose the consequences of your sin." It's not a warm, fuzzy, welcoming sentiment to display in your home…but I really want to put this up somewhere – for me, too; not just the kids.
YES!!! Will definitely be praying!!
He says he thinks the job interview went well. 🙏 No idea how fast they are actually wanting to move on it… Praying for everything to fall into place as God wants it to be for our best!
Thanks for the update!! Will continue praying that this opportunity will work out according to God's will!


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Comic Book Histories: Cyberforce
Posted byMark Brassington	 October 15, 2012 Leave a comment on Comic Book Histories: Cyberforce
I love Kickstarter. Browsing through it is like watching a crop of ideas ripening for harvest. For the uninitiated, Kickstarter is a website where individuals or groups can pitch their business ideas to the public for funding. If I wax lyrical about it, it's merely because I love the purity of the concept that enterprise can be funded by the founders' peers. Not everybody has apply to banks and big investment companies to get their idea off the ground. Things can be small and personal. Dare I say 'intimate'?
To stop me saying things is a Herculean task, according to some who know me.
All this preamble was just warm up for talking about our real subject today, which is the 20th anniversary and re-release of Cyberforce #1, written by Marc Silvestri and Matt Hawkins, art by Khoi Pham with Sunny Gho colouring.
Cyberforce first hit the shelves in 1992 through Homage Studios as a four part mini-series, before it launched Top Cow as a studio in 1993.
Cyberforce v1 #1 / Cyberforce v3 #1 © TopCow / Image Comics
The story follows a group of mutants who were heavily augmented with cutting edge technology by a mega-company called Cyberdata, which was in the business of making (and unleashing) the cybernetics of war, with a side line in world domination. I'm sure you can insert your own software company joke here, so I won't cramp your style.
The marrying of man and machine was a very nineties concern, with a lot of stories spawned from that shared, unconscious question of where were we headed as a species. Faced with such overwhelming achievements in science, technology and industry, it seemed natural and right that we made stories about it, exploring options we could not yet foresee.
In twenty years, this hasn't changed much, nor has the unspoken paranoia lessened. With today's phones and tablets and laptops, the Western world can be connected to the stream of information for twenty four hours a day if we want. We have serious industries built around keeping us wired in. Love it or loathe it, it's so commonplace that we barely even register our technological hybridisation.
And so Cyberforce returns twenty years on, with the same questions about the nature of humanity, big business autonomy and the conflict of self and society. Questions which are still relevant to our plugged-in, finger-on-the-pulse, wi fi world. All explored, of course, via the medium of super heroic exploits and conflict. But what is superhero fantasy at the end of the day, if not a profound question about what makes people human? Will the narrative of Cyberforce remain exactly the same? Probably not. For one, it's not the 90s anymore for two, everyone changes and the story Marc Silvestri wants to tell today is probably not the one he was telling twenty years ago.
"To warrant bringing something back and in turn retooling it, you'd better have something new to say. And that thing you want to say needs to be relevant and organic to the concept/characters."
I didn't say that, Marc Silvestri did on the Kickstarter pitch for Cyberforce.
Who are these characters he speaks of? Let's take a little time to talk about them in neatly arranged alphabetical listings. I haven't listed an extensive history, because when you reboot something, stuff is subject to change and maybe old history has some quirks you're happy to leave in the past. So let's talk about what probably won't have changed.
Family: Older sister to Velocity, abandoned to an orphanage. Hard times.
Powers: Super human athleticism and impeccable hand-eye coordination.
Most 90s Attribute: Abandonment! Fictional parents in the 90s were all deadbeats and alcoholics. It was a tough time for us all.
CYBLADE
Family: Her mother died in childbirth and her father and brother died in her youth. Like all good superheroes, her natural instinct is to blame herself and take to radicalism as a Freedom Fighter while simultaneously learning to be a doctor.
Powers: Electromagnetic 'blades' she can control with the power of her mind.
Most 90s Attribute: Knows Jeet Kun Do, the martial art created by Bruce Lee.
Family: Couldn't reliably control his powers when he was a kid and killed his brother with them by accident. Later married with a child, who was killed by in a terrorist attack.
Powers: Absorbing energy from the sun and then emitting it as super-hot plasma either to destroy something or lift himself in flight. It's like Bulbasaur's Solar Beam attack … how I imagine Solar Beam anyway. In my imagination, Pokemon is a much more exciting conflict.
Most 90s Attribute: "Heatwave, use Solar Beam attack!" "Finally- I mean, 'Venusaur'."
Family: N/A
Powers: Being freakin' huge and strong.
Most 90s Attribute: Being that guy who died to give the others clarity of purpose. Every team has one, some have the same one over and over again.
Family: Was going out with Velocity at one point, but that may not be a thing anymore. A native of the Iroquois tribe.
Powers: Super human regenerative powers with shamanistic tendencies, allowing him to converse with the spirit world and take other shapes.
Most 90s Attribute: Like Wolverine, but not as Canadian. Also, more spiritual! (I'm being so good not making a Bravestar referen- "Speed of the Puma!" Oh … oh dear. That's most unfortunate)
Powers: Three arms, all of them right! Well, he also has a left arm, but there's only one of it and that's just not good enough.
Most 90s Attribute: Having a 'y' instead of an 'i' in his name.
Family: Younger sister to Ballistic, similarly dumped in an orphanage at a tender age.
Powers: Super speed, super manoeuvrability and some healing ability, which is probably also linked to speed in some way.
Most 90s Attribute: Chronic case of the damsels. Velocity is that young, almost side-kicky character who spends most of her time in more trouble than she can handle.
In summation, I think of all the reboots to come up with, Cyberforce probably makes the most sense. It's often compared unfavourably to X-men, but while both franchises revolve around mutants, I think there's an excellent case to be made that they're not telling the same story. X-men as a concept and a story can be very applicable to equality movements. It's about people who are reviled because they are different and who suffer great divisions in their own community about how to fit in with the rest of the world and to have their say. We've all heard the comparison of Professor X to Martin Luther King and Magneto to Malcolm X. These are not off the cuff comparisons, in every oppressed group there are radicals on both sides screaming about what needs to change and in the middle, people wondering whose dream is worth fighting for the most.
Cyberforce #1 © TopCow / Image Comics
Cyberforce is applicable to humanity's relationship with technology and the great concern of our age, which is the fearsome political power mega conglomerates have. People on the telly can rant at me until they are blue in the face about how regulation on business is super bad for the economy, but we know and they know that what regulation and oversight is really bad for are profit margins.
Stories about our times are important, they stay with us because they speak to what troubles us today and can help form our ideas of how to deal with tomorrow. To that end, Cyberforce makes sense.
The fact that the digital copies will be free never hurt a comic's chances of being read either.
Posted byMark Brassington October 15, 2012 Posted inblog, ComicsTags: ballistic, cyberforce, cyblade, heatwave, impact, Khoi Pham, kickstarter, marc silvestri, matt hawkins, ripclaw, stryker, Sunny Gho, velocity
Graphic Novel Spotlight: Jim McCarthy, Barnaby Legg and Flameboy – Godspeed
TV News: Syfy's Being Human Signs on Kristen Hager as a Series Regular

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Print vs. Digital: Which Is Best for Your Business?
As you've probably heard, we're right in the thick of a digital marketing revolution. The vast majority of media in 2016 is consumed on a digital platform – whether via mobile, tablet or desktop devices – and new ways of reaching consumers are forged every day.
But is print really dying, or has its demise been exaggerated? The truth is, both platforms can be a boon for your business; it's simply a matter of who you're trying to reach and how you want to reach them.
Virtually unlimited reach. The beauty of social media, aside from that selfie you just posted, is that if your ad is engaging enough, it spreads: People can share it, retweet it, regram it and/or pin it. With print, you basically know how high your ceiling is. But with digital marketing, your ad has the potential to reach millions of people – literally overnight.
More versatility. Banner ads, embedded video, website skins, native advertising – digital marketing comes in many shapes and sizes. Depending on your objective (and your budget), you have the ability to engage consumers with rich, vibrant, clickable media in the way that best embodies your brand, increasing the likelihood of a website visit – and, ultimately, a sale.
Ever-growing audience. A new Cisco Systems study projects that, by 2020, 5.4 billion people will own a cell phone. That's 70 percent of the world's population and almost double the amount of people with running water (seriously). In other words, we've barely seen the tip of the digital iceberg.
Not everyone is online – yet. Despite the overarching trend toward digital, the fact remains that older, more technology-averse groups still prefer print. The majority of people 65 and older read newspapers daily, and their overall readership remains print-centric (even if revenue is down). Magazines, meanwhile, have a higher ROI than any other channel. So if your target demographic isn't toiling away on Facebook or Twitter all day, you're better off putting your digital ad spend into more traditional platforms.
There's something to be said for tangibility. Internet marketing is often seen as a distraction – even a nuisance that can have the reverse effect on a potential buyer. Print materials, on the other hand, can be far more inviting, with the potential to add an elegant, personal touch. By providing something tangible, something to hold onto – especially with direct mail, brochures and other on-site collateral materials – print forges an immediate connection with the consumer that digital ads just can't replicate.
Still not sure which approach is best for your business? Give our team of experts a shout and we'll devise a strategy that best fits your needs and budget.


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Home > Awards > Winners > 2020 > Innovation Award
All Winners 2020
Commercial Workplace
Corporate Workplace
Fit Out of Workplace
Refurbished / Recycled Workplace
Projects Up to 1500m2
Test of Time
Regional Judges are asked to consider all projects for the Innovation Award. For the first time this award is presented on a regional level and recognises a significant level of innovation in one, or more, fields.
In recognition of the importance of this category, and to highlight some of the exceptional innovative concepts that are developed across the UK's buildings every year, the BCO introduced the Regional Innovation Award.
Prof. Lord Bhattacharyya Building
University of Warwick, Lord Bhattacharyya Way, Coventry
The work that goes on inside Prof. Lord Bhattacharyya Building could make a true difference to the planet's environment and help resurrect one of Britain's key industries. The inspiring and dramatic structure houses the National Automotive Innovation Centre (NAIC) at the University of Warwick which researches and develops novel technologies to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and to reduce CO2 emissions, stimulates the latest advances in automotive technology and helps develop a stronger supplier base in the UK.
The building is named in honour of Britain's first ever Professor of Manufacturing, who was a pioneer in linking academic knowledge with industry practicality: This creates the perfect environment for that fusion. The workspace is designed to suit the varied requirements of the sensitive operations performed within and the array of skills from the engineers, designers and academics who make use of it. There are a variety of areas for both privacy and collaboration.
The dramatic front elevation gives an early indication of the 33,000m2 building's importance and purpose. A dramatic timber roof spans the structure and the use of renewable energy streams, bringing daylight in everywhere, has created an exemplar low energy project which gives tangible weight to its sustainable credentials.
The building has been brought together with a sense of simplicity which belies the immense complexity of the workplace. The need for aspects of privacy in intellectual rights, yet accessibility for improving collective knowledge, has resulted in a strong sense of openness in those areas that can be shared without security being compromised.
There is no doubt the Prof. Lord Bhattacharyya Building inspires those who work within it, those visiting, and, as it is embedded in a university campus, the next generation of engineers. Also, it is of such a high standard that it could provide the setting for the rejuvenation of the UK's motor industry and make it a key player in the global mobility revolution which is underway.
As a landmark building, it has transformed the campus at the University of Warwick and is a fitting legacy to the late Prof. Lord Bhattacharyya.
University of Warwick Architect: Cullinan Studio
Interior Designer:
Cullinan Studio
Occupiers:
WMG / Jaguar Land Rover / Tata Motors European Technical Centre
M&E Engineer:
Rider Levett Bucknall
Structural Engineer:
Quantity Surveyor:
Contractor:
Brief Consultant:
MIDLANDS AND CENTRAL ENGLAND
Prof. Lord Bhattacharyya Building, University of Warwick
Named in honour of Britain's first ever Professor of Manufacturing, the Prof. Lord Bhattacharyya Building houses the National Automotive Innovation Centre; a multimillion-pound centre, founded by WMG, Jaguar Land Rover and Tata Motors European Technical Centre, which creates and develops novel technologies to reduce CO2 emissions and dependency on fossil fuels. Fronted by a dramatic elevation, the 33,000m2 building has been sensitively designed for engineers, designers and academics to work together in, with a variety of spaces allowing for both privacy and collaboration. A timber roof spans the structure of the building, demonstrating the sustainable credentials of a facility that cannot but inspire.
Owner: University of Warwick
Occupier:
M&G Engineer: Arup
Structural Engineer: Arup
Rider Levett Bucknall Contractor: Balfour Beatty
160 Old Street, London
The judges were struck by the transformation of this space from a neglected 1970s building into an innovative, sustainable and modern development. Chiefly, the use of an innovative smart building app which informs occupants of the latest local events and offerings, as well as allowing workers control over the light and temperature of their personal desk space, creating a truly enjoyable and personalised experience at work.
Great Portland Estates M&E Engineer: Hilson Moran
Owner: The Great Ropemaker Partnership
Structural Engineer: Heyne Tillett Steel
Contractor: Wates Construction
Jackson Coles Investment/Property Co: The Great Ropemaker Partnership
Exigere
Developer: Great Portland Estates
Orms Agents: JLL / Colliers International
Windmill Green, 24 Mount Street, Manchester
Windmill Green, at the heart of Manchester city centre, was praised by judges for its comprehensive retrofit and refurbishment, which has created a significantly more sustainable scheme than the original 17-storey tower initially planned for. Its blend of environmental sustainability and social purpose is elevated by a sensitive architectural approach that made the building stand out to the judges – who branded the project as 'the city's greenest new office'.
FORE Partnership
M&E Engineer: Crooks Walker Consulting
Curtins
Gardiner & Theobald
Contractor: Kier Construction Northern
Quantity Surveyor: Walker Sime
Investment/Property Co: FORE Partnership
Architect: tp bennett
Developer: FORE Partnership
tp bennett Agents: Knight Frank / Lambert Smith Hampton / Sixteen
Queen Elizabeth House, New Waverley Office, Edinburgh, 1 Sibbald Walk, Edinburgh
The 265,000 ft2 commercial office was built on a former Brownfield site as part of a mixed-use scheme in Edinburgh's UNESCO World Heritage area. Six floors of office space are split over two buildings, linked on three levels by a large fully glazed 'bridge'. The judges felt unanimously that Queen Elizabeth House was a worthy winner of the Innovation Award, not only because of its commercial success in attracting a dedicated single occupier, but also due to the undeniable contribution that QEH makes as the cornerstone of the New Waverley Quarter.
Artisan Real Estate Structural Engineer: Ian Black Consulting
Owner: LGIM Real Assets
McAleer & Rushe Contracts UK
Allan Murray Architects
Developer: Artisan Real Estate
Caldwell Consulting


The Louisiana SPCA can occasionally accommodate group volunteer requests (no more than 10-15 people) for a day of service at the shelter facility with adequate advance notice. A sample of activities our groups have completed is below. Additionally, we can always use group help at our major fundraising events. If it is not convenient to assist at these events or to come to our facility, please review this list of Service Learning Opportunities.
For a corporate or community group please contact us 504.368.5191 ext 142 or volunteer@la-spca.org.
For a school or any group under 18 years of age please contact us at 504.368.5191 ext 207 or education@la-spca.org.


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1) To encourage the study of maritime and naval history at the Postgraduate level.
2) To provide an opportunity for Postgraduate students to publish a mid-length academic research paper.
3) To provide an opportunity for Postgraduate students to become known to, and involved with, several non-University naval and maritime history research associations.
4) To provide an opportunity for graduate students to communicate, and receive feedback on, the current form of their argument or analysis.
1) Address an aspect of naval or maritime history, or related fields with a maritime or naval focus.
2) Be the result of primary source research, either archival sources or hands-on research.
3) Focus on analysis and the communication of an argument.
4) Be no longer than 5,000 words including endnotes. Captions for images (of a reasonable length) need not be included in the wordcount.
1) Entries must be submitted by Friday, 13 June 2014.
2) Author must be a current Postgraduate student (MA, PhD or equivalent), or have completed their programme no earlier than January 1st 2014.
4) Entries must be accompanied by a reference from the author's academic supervisor or equivalent.
All entries to the AVML Essay Contest will be published on British Naval History beginning in July 2014. The essays will be adjudicated by a committee composed of representatives from the sponsoring organisations. The entries will be evaluated on the research, analysis and the expression of the argument. A short list will be released on Monday, 4 August 2014 and the successful entrant and essay announced on Monday, 11 August 2014. The primary award is the opportunity to present the Postgraduate lecture at the 2014 Alan Villiers Memorial Lecture, 1 October 2014 at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. In addition, a bursary of up to £600 will be awarded to compensate against travel expenses to Oxford. In addition, the winning entry will be published in either Mariner's Mirror, the Naval Review or BNRA Journal, in addition to British Naval History. Professor NAM Rodger of All Souls, Oxford will be provide the keynote lecture 'The German Submarine War, 1914-1918′.
With the approaching centenary, it is understood that many conferences, seminars and special lectures will address the First World War, but it is not a required topics for the 2014 Alan Villiers Memorial Lecture Essay Competition. It is strongly advised that entrants submit a paper related to their thesis or primary research topic. British Naval History promotes the publication and discussion of works-in-progress, and they are encouraged as entries for the essay contest.


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text:
Recueil des cours, Collected Courses, Tome 410
Collected Courses of The Hague Academy of International Law - Recueil des cours, Volume: 410
Académie de Droit International de la Haye / Hague Academy of International Law
Watch the interview with Harold Hongju Koh on American Schools of International Law
American Schools of International Law, by H. H. KOH, Sterling Professor of International Law at Yale Law School.
Is there still one international law and does the United States of America really believe in it? This lecture inaugurating the Hague Academy's first Winter Session, by an American scholar who served as US State Department Legal Adviser, argues that Americans do believe in international law as part of their nation's founding credo. Although recent US administrations have challenged 21st century international law, most American lawyers and legal scholars remain committed to the rule of international law. This dominant strand of international thinking among American academics and practitioners inhabits a school with strong historical roots known as the "'New' New Haven School of International Law." While some American schools of international legal thought diminish international law, they remain the exception. The "New" New Haven School argues, both positively and normatively, that rules of transnational legal process and substance must ensure that international law still matters. As America and the world together face such 21st Century globalization challenges as climate change, pandemic, and migration, this dominant American school remains determined to ensure that the United States will pay decent respect to international law.
Animals in International Law, by A. PETERS, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law Heidelberg.
The plight of animal individuals and species inflicted on them by human activity is a global problem with detrimental repercussions for all humans and for the entire planet. The book gives an overview of the most important international legal regimes which directly address animals and which indirectly affect them. It covers species conservation treaties, notably the international whaling regime, the farm animal protection rules of the EU, international trade law, and the international law of armed conflict. It also analyses the potential of international fundamental rights for animals. Finding that international law creates more harm than good for animals, the book suggests progressive treaty interpretation, treaty-making, and animal interest representation for closing the animal welfare gap in international law. A body of global animal law needs to be developed, accompanied by critical global animal studies.
Harold Hongju Koh, born on 8 December 1954 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.
Education: AB summa cum laude, Harvard University (1975); BA (Hons), First Class Honors, Oxford University (1977); MA, Oxford University (1997): JD cum laude, Harvard Law School (1980); MA (Hons), Yale University (1990); seventeen honorary doctorates (Quinnipiac Law School; University of Denver Sturm College of Law: American University School of Law; Wayne State University; Northeastern University: New School for Social Research; Iona College, Jewish Theological Seminary; University of Hartford, Widener School of Law; Skidmore College; Connecticut College; University of Connecticut; Dickinson College; Suffolk Law School; Albertus Magnus College; CUNY-Queens Law School).
Legal practice: Legal Adviser, United States Department of State (2009-2013); Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, United States Department of State (1998-2001); Attorney-Advisor, Office of Legal Counsel, United States Department of Justice (1983-1985); Associate, Covington & Burling, Washington, DC (1982-1983); Law Clerk, Justice Harry A. Blackmun, United States Supreme Court (1981-1982); Law Clerk, Judge Malcolm Richard Wilkey, United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit (1980-1981).
Bars: New York (1981); District of Columbia (1981); Connecticut (1985).
Academic positions: Sterling Professor of International Law (2013-present), Dean (2004-2009), Martin R. Flug '55 Professor of International Law (on leave) (2009-2013), Yale Law School; Gerard C. & Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law and Director, Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights, Yale Law School (1993-2009); Professor of Law, Yale Law School (1990-1993); Associate Professor of Law, Yale Law School (1985-1990); George Eastman Visiting Professor of Law, Oxford University (2021-22); Arthur Goodhart Visiting Professor of Legal Science, Cambridge University (2018-2019); Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar (2018-2021); Hague Academy of International Law (Summer 1993, Winter 2019); Visiting Professor, University of Hawaii Law School (2016); New York University (NYU) Law School, NYU Abu Dhabi (2015); Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence, Columbia Law School (2014); European University Institute (2014); Clarendon Law Lecturer, Oxford University (2014); Robert F. Drinan S. J. Visiting Professor of Human Rights, Georgetown Law School (2013); Oliver Smithies Lecturer, Balliol College, Oxford University (2013); Visiting Professor of International Business and Trade Law, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto (Winters 2000, 1990); Waynflete Lecturer, Magdalen College, Oxford University (1996); Oxford/George Washington University Joint Programme in International Human Rights Law (multiple times since 1996); Lecturer, Aspen Institute Seminar (regularly since 1994), NYU-Columbia Law Judges Colloquium (regularly since 2011); Federal Judicial Center; Professor, Salzburg Seminar in American Law and Legal Institutions (Summer 1991); Adjunct Assistant Professorial Lecturer in Law, George Washington University National Law Center (1982-1985); named lecturer at more than thirty universities.
Anne Peters is Director at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law Heidelberg (Germany), and a professor at the universities of Heidelberg, Freie Universität Berlin and Basel (Switzerland), and a L. Bates Lea Global Law Professor at the University of Michigan. She has been a member (substitute) of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) in respect of Germany (2011-2014) and was a legal expert for the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia (2009).
In 2020 she received a doctor honoris causa from the University of Lausanne. She was President of the European Society of International Law (2010-2012) and has served on the governance board of various learned societies such as the German Association of Constitutional Law (VDStRL) and the Society of International Constitutional Law (ICON•S). She is currently Vice-President of the Basel Institute of Governance (BIG), and Chairwoman of the German Association of International Law (DGIR).
Anne was a fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin (2012-2013), and held visiting professorships at the universities of Beijing (Beida), Paris I, Paris II, Sciences Po, and Michigan. Born in Berlin in 1964, Anne studied at the universities of Würzburg, Lausanne, Freiburg and Harvard, and held the chair of public international law and Swiss constitutional law at the University of Basel from 2001 to 2013. She obtained the Habilitation qualification at the Walther Schücking Institute of Public International Law at the Christian Albrechts University Kiel on the basis of her thesis, "Elemente einer Theorie der Verfassung Europas" (Elements of a Theory of the Constitution of Europe) in 2000.
Her current research interests relate to public international law including its history, global animal law, global governance and global constitutionalism, and the status of humans in international law. She has regularly taught international law, human rights law, international humanitarian law, the law of international organisations, EU law, comparative constitutional law and constitutional theory, and Swiss constitutional law, and global animal law.
American Schools of International Law, by H. H. KOH, Sterling Professor of International Law at Yale Law School
Chapter I. Introduction
Chapter II. International law as a founding principle of the United States of America
Chapter III. American schools of international law
A. Five schools: a sketch
B. Yale's New Haven School meets Harvard's International Legal Process
C. Transnationalism and the "New" New Haven School
Chapter IV. Twenty-first-century international law under challenge
Chapter V. The United States and international law in the age of Trump
Chapter VI. Preserving one international law: The challenges of globalization
Chapter VII. Conclusion
Bibliography General
Bibliography American Schools of International Law
Animals in International Law, by A. PETERS, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law Heidelberg
Chapter I. Animals: A Topic for international law
A. Overview of the book's argument
B. Dismantling the "great legal wall" between human and non-human
C. National animal protection law
D. A globalised problem requires a global solution
1. Global social, ecological and ethical consequences of globalized animal usage
2. The need for global regulation
E. Global standards as a response to outsourcing
1. The global mobility of animal-related industries
2. Animal welfare chills
3. Race to the bottom or race to the top?
F. Conclusion: The need for a global animal law
Chapter II. An overview of international rules on animals
B. Animal conservation treaties
C. The legal status of wildlife
1. Wild animals as a natural resource
2. Wild animals in international spaces
3. Wild animals as a "common concern", "common heritage", "global resource" or "global public good"?
D. The Office International des Epizooties: Action for animal welfare
1. The OIE animal welfare activity since 2002
2. The OIE animal welfare standards
E. The international financial institutions: Animal welfare standards and policies
1. Practice
F. Private actors in the global governance of animals
1. Private animal welfare standards
2. "Voluntary" animal welfare labels
3. Lawfulness, legitimacy and effectiveness of private animal welfare standards and labels
(a) The international legality of private standards and labels
(b) Legitimacy and effectiveness
4. Consumer choices
G. Conclusions
Chapter III. The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling: Dead or alive?
A. Basic facts on whales and whaling
B. The international whaling regime in a nutshell
1. From resource management to species protection
2. Types of whaling under the ICRW
3. Lawmaking by the International Whaling Commission
(a) Recommendations
(b) Regulations
C. The ICJ judgment on Whaling in the Antarctic of 2014
2. Proceeding and findings of the Court
3. "Scientific" whaling after the ICJ judgment
D. Lawful dynamism or unlawful mission creep?
1. The role of the IWC according to the Florianópolis Declaration of 2018
2. The critique of ultra vires activity
3. Instruments, forms, and processes of putative legal change
4. The reinterpretation of the ICRW
(a) Whale species protection
(b) Whale welfare
(c) Whale rights and the prohibition of genocide
E. Conclusions
Chapter IV. Farm animals in the law of the European Union
A. Parameters of animal-related EU legal action
1. The legal and institutional framework
2. Secondary law
3. The role of consumer-citizens
B. Animals as sentient merchandise
1. Animals as a marketable goods
2. Animals as sentient beings
C. The dual motivation of EU legislation
1. Boosting the internal market with side effects for animal welfare
2. Balancing off
3. Levelling up?
D. The Court of Justice of the European Union on animal welfare
2. Little leeway for member states' higher standards
3. The legal status and functions of "animal welfare" in the case law
4. Summary and assessment
E. Towards better animal welfare in EU law
1. Animal-friendly interpretations
2. Better implementation
3. New laws
4. Green-plating by frontrunner member states
5. Removing animals from the categories of "goods" and "things"
6. International action
(a) Standards for imported products
(b) Animal welfare guidelines and impact assessments
(c) International cooperation and harmonisation
F. Conclusions
Chapter V. Animals in international trade law
A. International trade and trade law as a chiller of animal welfare measures
1. Threats to domestic animal welfare measures
2. Domestic and EU animal welfare measures as a competitive disadvantage?
B. Coping strategies for animal welfare
2. Import bans
3. Legal limits set by international trade law
C. National measures for animals outside the acting state's territory and the problem of "extraterritoriality"
1. Legal qualification as extraterritorial repercussions
2. Lawfulness and legitimacy under general public international law
D. Animal-friendly production methods and the problem of "like products"
1. The scope of non-discrimination obligations under the GATT and the TBT Agreement
2. The "likeness" test and process and production methods
3. Animal-friendly production methods may lead to unlike products
E. The justification of animal health, welfare and conservation measures
1. Protection of animal health and animal life
(a) Under GATT and the TBT Agreement
(b) Under the SPS Agreement
(c) Overlaps between animal health and animal welfare
(d) Extraterritorial repercussions
2. Animal protection as a conservation of exhaustible natural resources
(a) Protection as conservation
(b) Extraterritorial repercussions
F. Prohibiting products under the heading of "public morals": The Seal Products case
1. Facts
2. Findings
(a) Violation of basic obligations under GATT
(b) No justification under Article XX of GATT
3. Follow-up and assessment
G. Further animal welfare measures
1. Animal welfare tariffs under GATT
2. Animal welfare labelling under the TBT Agreement
3. Animal welfare payments under the Agreement on Agriculture
4. Animal welfare dumping under the Anti-dumping Agreement
H. A new generation of animal-friendly trade agreements
1. The law as it stands
2. Upholding levels of protection
3. The way forward
I. Conclusions
Chapter VI. Animals in the law of armed conflict
B. The "neglected victim of armed conflict"
C. Incidental protection of animals
1. Protection of animals as commodity
(a) The protection of livestock as property
(b) Wild animals as object of pillage and plunder
2. Further incidental protection of animals
3. Animals in the law of disaster relief
D. Animals as part of the protected environment
E. The basic principles of IHL and animals
1. Proportionality and military necessity
2. The prohibition of superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering
3. The dual meaning of the principle of humanity
4. The principle of distinction
(a) Animals objects
(b) Military or civilian objects?
(c) Animals as prohibited weapons?
F. Animals as actors in war
1. Animals as combatants?
(a) The fit of the rules
(b) Benefits of the combatant status
(c) Burdens of the combatant status
(d) Towards a prohibition of conscripting animals
2. Animals as civilians and their "direct participation in hostilities"
3. Animals as protected persons?
G. The Martens clause for animals
H. Conclusions and outlook
1. Conduits for developing the law
2. The persistent dilemma
3. The status question
Chapter VII. Towards international animal rights
A. Animals as objects of protection
1. Human stewardship and duties of care towards animals
2. From "thing" through "thing-like" to "sentient being"
B. Animal personhood?
1. Terminology
2. Functions of personhood
3. Conceptions of personhood
4. Human personhood
5. Non-human personhood
6. Contingency and fuzziness of personhood
C. Moral rights for animals?
D. Animals as bearers of legal rights
1. Animal rights in India
2. Animal rights in the United States
3. Animal rights in Latin America
E. Legal models for animal rights
1. Inadequacy of the private and corporate law model
2. The model of rights of nature
3. The model of fundamental rights of humans
4. The end of analogies
F. Objections against animal rights
1. Practical problems
2. Against rights as such
3. Levelling down humans?
4. Rights without obligations
G. Benefits of rights for animals
1. Transformation
2. The obligation to justify
3. Remedies
(a) The standing requirement
(b) Procedural equality of arms
(c) Access to court through standing without rights
(d) Animal rights generating broad standing
4. Reparation
H. Making animal rights work
1. For which animals?
(a) Avoiding speciesism
(b) Avoiding ableism
(c) Sentience as a bottom line
(d) Species membership as heuristics
2. Which rights?
3. Addressees of animal rights and the public/private split
4. Lawful restrictions of animal rights
5. Form and process of endorsement
(a) Animal rights through dynamic interpretation?
(b) Shortcomings of national codifications
(c) International endorsement strategies
Chapter VIII. Towards a global animal protection law
A. Introduction: Public international law as a problem for animals
B. Building a global overlapping consensus on animal welfare
1. Global animal welfare aligned with human development
(a) The African Union's animal welfare strategy
(b) Improvement of animal welfare as work towards the sustainable development goals
2. Animal welfare as a matter of global justice
3. Interim conclusions: Lining up ethics and economy
C. The risk of legal imperialism
1. Challenges
2. Responses
D. Public international law as part of the solution
1. Pending legal policy proposals and strategic litigation
2. Wild animal welfare in conservation treaties
3. An international customary rule and general principles of animal welfare
4. Legal consequences of a global animal welfare norm
E. Taking animals seriously in lawmaking processes
1. Is "representation" (speaking for) animals possible?
2. The design of representation
3. Counter-majoritarian elements, notably animal rights
1. International law as a mixed blessing
2. Prospects
3. Making animal law work
560 pp.
Hague Academy
Recueil des cours, Collected Courses, Tome/Volume 247 (1994)


Since Firefox 16, you can easily take full page screenshots of your active web page. This means no more cropping the edges out in Photoshop or using third party apps to quickly capture what's onscreen.
Enter the screenshot command in the bar that pops up and choose a filename for your screenshot and any further options required (e.g. --fullpage, --clipboard etc).
Files will be saved as png images. You can even delay the screenshot for a set number of seconds by using the –delay option.
Tip: Once you've opened up the toolbar just enter screenshot and then hit Tab to see a prompt for what's next.


How do you like the PSA? I've been getting their emails for a while now and can't believe some of the deals they have! Right now they have a lower for only $39.99 and this 16" mid-lenth Freedom complete AR for only $499.99. I'm thinking of ordering that one up tomorrow and then building another one later.
I Love em. Their stuff is quality. And they back everything up.
Their AKs are great too.
The reviews on their site are very good but on AR-15 site they're mixed. But I've also found the AR-15 site to be a little prejudice against lower priced AR's. It's like if you're not spending 2-3K you're buying a crap rifle. I had a few AR's before but sold them when I moved and now that the prices have come down drastically it's a perfect time to buy a few more.
If you think the AR15 forum is picky, try out the M4 carbine net site for some strong opinions.
I have 2 and 3k dollar ARs.
They don't do anything better than a Palmetto does.
Where the money matters in an AR really, is the trigger, the barrel, and bolt carrier.
The new lowers from PSA have the set screw for the upper like an Aero Precision lower has.
Their FN barrels are Cold Hammer Forged and Chrome lined.
Seriously where can you get a MLOK railed upper for 299-319?
A nickel boron bolt carrier group and charging handle for 99.99 shipped!
Salad days. To hell with what the haters say, they just want to feel better about a 5k dollar noveske that they won't operationally operate. It's a range toy safe queen.
And if you must (I'm a brass prude) run steel cased... they'll run steel cased.
PSA, Rock River (government but not mil contracts), S&W, Savage, Springfield, Wyndham... to name a few are all good quality "budget" AR builders without major Military contracts. Then you get the high end non military builders like POF,JP and Seekins etc ... again pretty good quality there that probably exceeds most mil spec quality standards. Then you have the big high end companies like BCM and Daniel Defense who probably are the sweet spot they have some military contracts but mostly civilian business. And they make top notch stuff !
The Milspec contract manufacturers Colt and FN at the moment are hit and miss with some of their pure milspec guns lacking a lot of features compared to a lot of higher end guns.
Then you have the SOCOM builders ... essentially the cream ... and these are milspec but sell mainly to special ops branches and civilians looking for the Ferrari's ... KAC and LMT would fit in here.
I've got guns from KAC, LMT, FN, Daniel Defense but like most people I guess the guns I like most are the ones I built up myself.
Nothing particularly special about "mil spec". Original mil specs on the m 16 were seriously flawed. Gotta figure military contracts are given to the lowest bidder and they will build the rifles exactly to specification even if they know that the specs are wrong. With the AR there are so many makers out there any more all using the same specs seeing any appreciable difference in them is pretty tough.
My primary AR is built on an Anderson lower, DPMS upper and barrel/BCG and mil spec DPMS trigger group. It shoots like a house afire especially with heavier bullets . I'm currently working on an 80% billet lower from Battle Born and plan on this being my really high end shooter when finished. Taking my time with it.
I have an AR15 from the early 80s. It was built up off of a PWA Pac West Arms receiver. Back then Colt was the only place to buy a fully made AR15 off the rack for the most part. The parts to finish were not colt made or any Colt subsidiaries. The gun for a while was used with a stamped drop in sear from the person I bought it from. It shot some full auto. Its as good today as it was back then. So to buy a gun for the name where the parts are all standardized is most times BS. I have two colt ars that I paid more for. But are they actually worth it? Not for shooting only but collecting yes.
What is a "stamped drop in sear?"
That's what I thought originally, but a LL isn't a sear.


text:
AFL bounce has no benefit: umpires' coach
Warren Barnsley
AFL legend Kevin Bartlett has condemned opposition to Australian rules football's iconic centre ball bounce to commence play.
Richmond champion Bartlett wants to keep the bounce, and further remove rule changes to only do so in the centre square and throw the ball up elsewhere on the ground.
"We should never have gotten rid of the bounce at all around the ground in the first place," Bartlett told SEN radio on Wednesday.
"The bounce is unique to our game … with the oval ball that sometimes went off centre and at different heights, ruckwork once was an art form of the game.
"Now, they want a basketball tip-off to start our great game. Good god."
AFL umpires coach Hayden Kennedy said the bounce was detrimental not only to fairness in the game but also attempts to raise the standard of officiating.
It was putting too much physical strain on umpires' bodies, he said.
"I think there's really no benefit. I think by throwing up and creating an even contest on all occasions is probably the best way for us to go," Kennedy told radio show Sportsday.
"We've (umpires) had a few more injuries of late, especially towards the end of last year, some shoulders, some backs and some hamstrings."
"We don't want to stop good umpires coming through because they can't bounce or they don't bounce currently at the community level.
"It's a really demanding and dynamic movement. To do it for 15-20 years at the community level beforehand, it takes a fair toll on the body. If (umpires) can't bounce well, we don't want to exclude them because they're good umpires."
The bounce has long been one of the game's great spectacles, featuring in AFL marketing campaigns and sponsors' advertisements.
Concern around scrapping the bounce has centred around ridding the AFL of one of its most attractive qualities – its randomness.
"It should be if the ball goes off centre, play on," Bartlett said.
"Like it was, until some sooked because an odd crooked bounce gave the opposition a perceived advantage.
"It's an oval ball, for god's sake.
"We brag about having the greatest game in the world for over 100 years, now they want to turn it into some hybrid game for the whingers."