published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Mechanical Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This research focused on the petrographic analysis of prehistoric ceramics within the East Midlands. Prior assessments have been intermittent and not drawn together by a research-based agenda, with a few notable exceptions. This research uses petrographic analysis to shed light on early prehistoric society within Leicestershire, a county overlooked in comparison to other regions. The aim of this research was to investigate the procurement of raw materials and the subsequent production of Neolithic and early Bronze Age ceramics in Leicestershire, placing the county in its regional context. Petrographic slides from several early prehistoric sites were produced and analysed to determine the presence of any non-local material within the fabric of the ceramics. Existing petrographic data from other sites in the East Midlands were used as a comparative data set to test whether the ceramics from Leicestershire were typical or atypical of the wider production and procurement pattern. The results of the petrographic analysis on the Leicestershire sites indicated that the clay and inclusions were most likely of local origin, with no definitive evidence for non-local inclusions. However, the results from the comparative petrographic data obtained from sites within the wider East Midlands does support the movement of raw materials and/or finished ceramic products within the region. Preferential sources appear to have been continually exploited, both chronologically and geographically. The prime target of the exploitation was the Charnwood Forest area of Leicestershire, with groups from Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire utilising this resource in addition to more local groups within Leicestershire.

This thesis is a comprehensive investigation of Roman African cookwares that examines their contribution to studies on the consequences of the incorporation of Africa into the Roman imperial economy. It aims to synthesise and analyse the most significant evidence and examines how the flow of capital, technical knowledge and people, between provinces and regions, affected production, trade and distribution trends. The technology and organisation of Roman African cookware production are examined first, in order to create a solid foundation for the following distribution study. Scientific analyses of African cookware samples from production and consumption sites offer important additions to our knowledge of the fabric composition, technical superiority, provenance and movement of these wares around the Mediterranean. The key discussion focuses on the commercial dynamics of Roman African cookwares from local, regional and Mediterranean-wide perspectives. Beginning at the production sites, the research investigates the management and transportation of these wares from major ports in Africa Proconsularis to Mediterranean ports, and beyond. A chronological assessment of the evolution of cookware production and trade in relation to periods of political and economic change reveals the significant contribution these wares can make towards tracing and even anticipating major stages in the evolution and eventual decline of Roman economic systems. Other key achievements include the creation of a new illustrated typology with profile drawings of all the cookware forms; a gazetteer of all known African cookware production sites and the forms they produced; and a synthesis and catalogue of African cookware fabrics. The importance of this research lies in the fact that although the abundance of Roman African cookwares on Mediterranean sites is well recognised, a catalogue and analysis of production and trade has never previously been attempted.

Nature never ceases to amaze me with momentary observations of fluid energy: the purposeful curvature of a blue heron's neck; the pattern of water as it sweeps across a rock sculpted by that very motion; the changing light and shadows created as wind blows through tall grasses. The spark of beauty in these moments lies in the energy that causes this constant change. To capture this energy, either potential or kinetic, and embody it through textures and flow of mass, is my essential goal as an artist.

Faith and family are the aspects of my life that bring me joy and inspiration. This joy is represented as light and is present both literally and symbolically in all my work. I use light or a flame in my ceramic pieces to represent warmth, love, and spirituality. Images of nature are employed to suggest life. My most recent ceramic work embodies aspects of family and the joy of motherhood. My paintings focus on my family and are centered on the moments or memories that are significant to them. I try to paint the light of their lives.

We shall not starve. We shall not lack shelter. We shall have a hearth. Awake self reliance! Our art is for feeding, warmth, protection. Ceramics– our temporal salvation. Clay– our material life-force. Transformed by fire we arise with the skills of the ancients! No longer will we live in obscurity. To the deskilled, your fate is at hand! You have chosen alienation, distraction, banality, and sloth. Embrace your digital false Gods and die or be reborn to the natural physical world. Now, together we complete our reason for being. We create a new world of kinship. A hope for the utopia not of rigid modernism but one of a new world, a rediscovery of the natural order.

“Truth happens only by establishing itself in the strife and the free space opened up by truth itself. Because truth is the opposition of clearing and concealing, there belongs to it what is here called establishing.”[i]—Martin Heidegger All things contain their own individual existence. When I look at objects I notice material, tradition, individual history. These are starting points for my imagination to seed and germinate. My ideas are fragmented, nonlinear and nonsensical to others but they hold honesty to me. Honesty is powerful and is worth sharing. This document is an examination of my work during my graduate studies. I will explain the importance of my relationship with: the imagination, jokes, materials, traditions and process as these are constant variables of my art practice. [i] Martin Heidegger, “The Origin of the Works of Art” in Tanke, Joseph J., and Colin McQuillan. The Bloomsbury Anthology of Aesthetics. 394. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2012

In this project I argue that trauma is a major component of society. Rather than positioning trauma as an event, I contend that it should be understood as an environmental force. To form this reorientation I look to an actual environment and the ways in which it remembers and responds to systemic violence. Specifically, I track the colonization and exploitation of Mount Baldy, and how natural occurrences such as floods and fires have consistently threatened human development on the mountain. If trauma is both monumentally impactful and an environmental force, then it merits a major rethinking of many of the aspects of human existence that are assumed to be stable. In chapter 1, I move trauma outside of the psychological definitions of the DSM and into a communal and systemic framework. In chapter 2, I use a case study of Mount Baldy to understand how environmental forces react to trauma, which provides a way to imagine how a society or community might collectively operate as a traumatized being. In chapter 3, I undertake a material research process using clay harvested from Mount Baldy. Clay, which mimics characteristics of the human body and is literally a part of the natural environment, connects the embodied nature of trauma for human to the ecological manifestations of trauma. This allows a glimpse at what it might mean to acknowledge trauma as a major component of the human experience.

O objetivo deste trabalho é estudar o impacto dos processos erosivo, abrasivo e erosivo/abrasivo sobre a camada de glaze aplicada em materiais restauradores indiretos produzidos com tecnologia CAD/CAM quanto à rugosidade superficial (Ra), à perda de superfície (PS), à topografia superficial (T) e à deposição de biofilme (DB). Este estudo teve como fatores de variação: material restaurador [LuxaCam Zircon HT - Plus (LC) e IPS e.max CAD (IPS)] e tratamento de superfície [Sinterização (S), Glaze (G), Erosão (E), Abrasão (A), Erosão/Abrasão (EA)]. Foram produzidos espécimes de 6mm x 7 mm x 1,3mm, divididos em 10 grupos para cada resposta. Para as respostas Ra e PS (n=10) foi utilizada perfilometria óptica, já para a resposta T foi utilizado MEV e para DB, ensaio microbiológico (n=3 e n=5, respectivamente). O protocolo de erosão consistiu na imersão de espécimes em 5ml de HCl 0,06M, pH 1,2, por 30 horas a 37ºC. O protocolo abrasivo foi realizado com máquina de escovação, escovas de cerdas macias e slurry pasta dentifrícia/água destilada 1:2. Foram realizados 400.000 ciclos com carga de 200 gramas. O protocolo erosivo/abrasivo consistiu na combinação dos dois protocolos anteriores. Para DB foi acrescentada a variável tempo de leitura (5 e 24 horas). Para este ensaio foi utilizada a cepa de Streptococcus mutans UA159, cultivada em TSB suplementado com 1,7% de sacarose, usando o método indireto de coloração por safranina e leitura de absorbância. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância (ANOVA) e teste de Tukey (p<0,05). Quanto ao Ra, LC apresentou maior Ra do que IPS (p<0,05) para todos os grupos testados. O desafio E diminuiu o Ra do glaze (p<0,05), enquanto A e EA o aumentaram (p<0,05). Quanto à PS, LC apresentou PS maior que IPS (P=0,03). Os desafios A e EA geraram maior PS do que E (p=0,00). Para DB, não houve diferença para nenhum fator após 5 horas (p>0,05). Para 24 horas, LC apresentou maior DB que IPS (P=0,00) e os desafios A e EA geraram maior DB (p=0,01) que E. A DB após 5 horas foi maior do que após 24 horas (p=0,02). Todas as propriedades da camada de glaze testadas foram alteradas pelos desafios de superfície, porém a camada de glaze aplicada sobre zircônia foi mais suscetível a estas. A maior rugosidade da camada de glaze levou à maior deposição de biofilme. / The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of erosive, abrasive and erosive / abrasive challenges on the glaze layer applied on indirect restorative materials produced with CAD/CAM technology for surface roughness (Ra), surface loss (SL), surface topography (ST) and biofilm deposition (BD). This study had as factors of variation: restoration material [LuxaCam Zircon HT - Plus (LC) and IPS e.max CAD (IPS)] and surface treatment [Sintering (S), Glaze (G), Erosion (E), Abrasion (A), Erosion / Abrasion (EA)]. Specimens of 6mm x 7mm x 1.3mm were produced and divided into 10 groups for each response. For Ra and SL responses (n = 10) was used optical profilometry, for ST was used SEM (n=3) and for BD was used microbiological assay (n = 5). The erosion protocol consisted of immersing specimens in 5ml of 0.06M HCl, pH 1.2, for 30 hours at 37ºC. The abrasive protocol was performed with brushing machine, soft bristle brushes and slurry toothpaste /distilled water 1: 2. 400.000 cycles were performed with a load of 200 grams. The erosive / abrasive protocol consisted of a combination of the two previous protocols. For BD the variable reading time was added (after 5 and 24 hours). Strains of Streptococcus mutans UA159, cultivated in TSB supplemented with 1.7% of sucrose, were used by the indirect method of staining with safranin and reading of absorbance. Data were submitted to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey test (p <0.05). Regarding Ra, LC presented higher Ra than IPS (p <0.05) for all groups tested. E decreased glaze Ra (p <0.05), while A and AE increased it (p <0.05). Regarding SL, LC presented SL higher than IPS (P = 0.03). A and EA challenges generated higher SL than E (p = 0.00). For BD, there was no difference for any factor after 5 hours (p> 0.05). For 24 hours, LC presented higher BD than IPS (P = 0.00) and A and EA challenges generated higher BD (p = 0.01) than E. BD after 5 hours was higher than after 24 hours (p = 0.02). All the glaze layer properties tested were altered by the surface challenges, however the glaze layer applied on zirconia was more susceptible to these. Greater roughness of the glaze layer led to greater biofilm deposition.