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Glazed ceramic cladding is a material with a very long history of use in the built environment, whether as roof tiles, wall tiles, or more recently, as part of a rainscreen cladding system. A key factor in the resurgence of interest in ceramic as a cladding material—in addition to its inherent qualities of sustainability, malleability, durability, and fire resistance—is as a means of incorporating color into the facade. Although polychromatic facades are commonly achieved using tessellation of a range of single‐colored elements, this article will focus on complex layered and variegated color and texture within a single component. Historical glazes, such as the blue‐red of Chinese Jun ware pottery from the 12th century CE were produced through carefully controlled reduction kiln processes, yet retained an element of uncertainty in the resultant patterns and remain an inspiration for contemporary ceramic artists. Drawing on historical research, literature review and interviews with ceramic artists and industrial manufacturers, six case studies from the United Kingdom and China are discussed that show collaborative processes at different scales of operation. These combine unique artisan and artistic glazes, with standardized, rigorously tested, and internationally manufactured products. These "fusion glazes" refer to historic hand‐made practices to bring an element of unpredictability, and a layer of complexity in terms of color, texture and luster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is understood about the relationship between glycated haemoglobin and future functional health in the general population. In this work, we aimed to assess if glycaemic control is associated with future physical and mental functional health at 18-month follow-up in a UK general population, in those with and without diabetes. This work was a cross-sectional study. Between 1995 and 1997, participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer, Norfolk, attended a health check including blood testing for haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and completed a health and lifestyle questionnaire. Eighteen months later, self-reported physical and mental functional health were assessed using short form-36 (SF-36). Outcomes of interest included physical and mental component summary (PCS and MCS, respectively) scores of the SF-36. A total of 7343 participants (56% women, mean (SD) 58.1 ± 9.5 years) were eligible to be included, of whom 167 had prevalent diabetes. In our linear regression analysis, a higher HbA1c (mmol/mol) was found to be associated with a poorer PCS score (coefficient −0.15 (p < 0.0001)) at follow-up. After adjustment for comorbid conditions, including obesity, this association was no longer statistically significant. A higher HbA1c (mmol/mol) was associated with a better MCS score at follow-up; this finding was significant when adjusted for comorbid conditions (coefficient 0.029 (p < 0.05)). Our findings suggest that the association between a higher HbA1c and poorer physical functional health is explained by a higher BMI and comorbidity status in a general population. While higher HbA1c was found to be associated with higher mental functional health at follow-up, the magnitude of this association was small. Healthy responder bias and unmeasured confounding variables may have influenced this result; thus, it should be interpreted with caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper draws on a recent research project 'Design at the Heart of Housebuilding', commissioned by the Scottish Government and undertaken in 2006-7; subsequently published in early 2008. This research focused on the conceptions and practice of design within private sector house developers in Scotland, which is used here as a basis for speculatively exploring opposing values between private sector housing developers and architects in housing design. Drawing initially on reviews of this relationship in the initial mass private sector housing provision in the inter-war period in the UK the paper then compares this with the more recent position as evidenced in the research, two generations later. It identifies and analyses the basis for a perpetuated mutual wariness as a way to understand the potential for change in current trends, and ends by highlighting some examples of alternative collaborations, where the skills and values of architects are more fully articulated with those of developers and manufacturers in innovative housing provision, including forms of mass customisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]