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Using assemblages of marine and non-marine mollusc shells from recent excavations in the Western Isles of Scotland, with reference to previously published studies, this thesis contributes to an enhanced understanding of the cultural palaeoecology of insular societies. Chaoter 1 sets out the topics that will be covered in this thesis. Chapter 2 introduces the methods and principles that drive molluscan analysis; Chapter 3 outlines the natural history of the Western Isles; and Chapter 4 the archaeology. Previous work on molluscs from the islands are summarised in Chapter 5, and emergent themes identified. Chapter 6 presents the results of analyses of new non-marine molluscan assemblages from 9 sites, ranging in date from the Mesolithic to the Norse period. Comparative data collected from a transect of samples for modern snails are also presented, along with a statistical meta-analysis of the data. Chapter 7 presents the results of marine shell analyses from 4 sites, ranging in date from the Early Bronze Age to the Norse period. The results are discussed in terms of their regional and wider significance in Chapter 8, and the thesis concluded in Chapter 9. Studying non-marine and marine molluscs from a wide range of sites across the islands has made important contributions to the archaeology of the Western Isles. The movement of new species of snail into and across the islands emphasises the connectedness of prehistoric communities across wider social networks on the Atlantic coast of Europe. The study of non-marine molluscs and the use of statistical analysis contributes to a broader understanding of taphonomy and site formation processes. Combined analysis of marine and non-marine mollusc shells highlights the agricultural practices and land use of prehistoric and Norse farmers. Studies of larger marine shells indicate changing tastes at the time of increasing contact with the Norse diaspora.

Robots have unusual potential to interactively support human design thinking. As physical and social actors, robots can be programmed to directly engage in the kind of materially-situated, social design conversations that typify human design activity. As computational agents, robots can also inject perspectives, knowledge, and approaches to complement human design thinking. In this dissertation, we make this argument from theory and prior work and describe observations from two primary and two supporting studies of what robots designing with humans might look like. The first primary study examines how a human and a robot might collaboratively design a solution to a problem, while the second examines how they might define design problems together. We reflect on insights across these two studies and propose next steps aimed at isolating the importance of social and physical interaction in this context. We conclude by defining key questions at the core of the study and pursuit of human-robot collaborative design (HRCD).

Aims: This PhD project was designed under two studies, the genetic association study to investigate a genetic component or a genetic pathway that might be associated with both schizophrenia and type-2 diabetes (T2D). The gene functional study to explore whether clozapine could affect expression of the genes associated with obesity and T2D. Methods: In genetic association study, a total of 17 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped in the PPARG, PLA2G4A, PTGS2 and AKT1 genes in 221 British nuclear families. In the gene functional study, U937 cells were treated with clozapine (1g/ml and 2g/ml) for 48 hours and 96 hours. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis was used to measure the mRNA expression levels of the genes of interest in clozapine-treated and untreated cells. Results: Eight SNPs tested across the PPARG gene did not show allelic association with schizophrenia. An association was detected at rs2745557 in the PTGS2 locus (2=4.19, p= 0.041) and rs10798059 in the PLA2G4A locus (2=4.28, p=0.039), but these associations did not survive after 10,000 permutations (global p=0.246). Allelic association for the AKT1 gene was detected at rs1130214 (2=6.28, p=0.012) and at rs11847866 (2=4.64, p=0.031) only although the global p-value of overall associations for the AKT1 was 0.059 after 10,000 permutations. Haplotype analysis showed a disease association for the rs1130214-rs2494746-rs11847866 haplotypes (2= 10.18, df= 4, p=0.037), of which the T-G-A haplotype was excessively transmitted (2=6.93, p=0.008) and this haplotypic association survived the Bonferroni correction (p=0.04). The expression of the MTCH2 gene showed a significant decrease in mRNA expression (combined p=0.001) and that of the PPARG gene showed a significant increase (combined p=0.005) in the cells treated with 1g/ml clozapine for 96 hours. Conclusions: The present results support the AKT1 gene association with schizophrenia as reported in previous studies; both the MTCH2 and PPARG genes may be involved in the development of clozapine-induced obesity and in an increased risk of T2D.