Thesis (M.A.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, African Literature, 2014. / The purpose of this research project was to investigate the role of the publishing industry in supporting and promoting isiZulu fiction in South Africa. The research first highlighted the contribution made by the missionaries in the 19th century in publishing literature in indigenous languages in general and in isiZulu fiction in particular. This aspect followed by a discussion of the impact of apartheid’s publishing policies on literature in indigenous African languages. This section then followed by the discussion of the strategies and initiatives that have been introduced in order to preserve and promote this literary tradition in the post-apartheid period. This research assessed OUPSA’s book chain process in order to investigate how the book industry contributes to the post-1994 initiatives of promoting creative writing in indigenous languages. It argued that book publishing is not the end of the book provision process, instead marketing and distribution chain, selection of fiction in schools and libraries, lack of experience of librarians, shortage of African languages fiction and financial resources in libraries as well as inconclusiveness of government policies play a huge role in the distribution process of isiZulu fiction which is pivotal to the sustainable existence of a publishing industry. In this research project, different aspects of the book chain process were investigated, such as: publishing and distribution, schools and public libraries, schools and education and literacy level to find out the link between publishing and libraries and schools. It is hoped that the findings of the investigation identified the significant inhibiting factors which may prevent the provision of isiZulu fiction books to libraries and schools that may have been caused by the methods in which books were commissioned, marketing strategies and implementation of the language policy, especially as to how it affects the promotion and rejuvenation of literatures in African languages.

Les bâtiments à faible consommation d’énergie connaissent, ces dernières années, un grand intérêt étant donné le rôle important qu’ils jouent dans la diminution des émissions de gaz à effet de serre d’une part, et la flambée des prix des combustibles, d’autre part. Néanmoins, dans de nombreux cas la réalisation de ce type de bâtiments n’atteint pas les performances escomptées. Ce problème est dû en grande partie à : 1) la perte d’informations tout au long du cycle de vie du bâtiment, 2) la non évaluation régulière des décisions prises par les acteurs intervenants. Le commissionnement en tant que processus de contrôle qualité joue un rôle important dans le bon déroulement du processus de réalisation de bâtiments à faible consommation d’énergie. Cette recherche vise à développer une méthodologie dont l’objectif est d’assister les personnes responsables de cette mission dans la définition de plans de commissionnement adaptés à leurs projets. Nous avons réalisé en premier, un état de l’art de la réalisation des bâtiments à faible consommation d’énergie, que nous avons par la suite confronté à la réalité à travers une enquête auprès des acteurs du bâtiment et d’étude de cas réels. Cette étape nous a permis de formuler une hypothèse concernant la nécessité d’un commissionnement «évolutif» -adapté aux particularités de chaque projet - et de décrire une méthodologie globale d’assistance à la conception des bâtiments à faible consommation d’énergie, qui intègre une aide à la décision, une gestion de l’information et un commissionnement «évolutif» qui vient vérifier le bon déroulement des deux premiers. Pour mettre en application cette méthodologie, une boîte à outils a été développée. Elle est constituée de : 1) un outil dit «statique» qui permet de définir un premier plan de commissionnent générique qui répond aux caractéristiques d’un projet, à partir d’une base de données exhaustives de tâches de commissionnement, 2) un outil dit «dynamique» basé sur les probabilités, qui permet de mettre à jour le plan de commissionnement initial (générique), en l’adaptant au projet en cours. Cette mise à jour permet de prendre en compte les particularités et imprévus rencontrés lors de la réalisation d’un projet, rendant ainsi le plan de commissionnement plus précis. Une expérimentation, dans un cas réel, du premier outil et des applications du second ont été faites pour montrer leurs possibilités et leurs limites. Les résultats font apparaître deux points importants : 1) l’intérêt d’avoir un plan de commissionnement structuré et évolutif pour vérifier la qualité de la réalisation des bâtiments à faible consommation d’énergie et assurer ainsi l’atteinte des performances souhaitées, 2) l’intérêt d’utiliser un outil probabiliste tel que les réseaux Bayésiens pour anticiper les dérives et prendre en charge les imprévus rencontrés lors de ce processus vivant. Cette méthodologie représente une base pour le développement d’outils d’assistance à la définition de plans de commissionnement «évolutifs» pour le neuf et l’existant, et tous les secteurs du bâtiment / The low energy buildings know, these latest years, a great interest because of the important role that they play in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions on one hand, and the rise of the combustibles prices, on the other hand. Nevertheless, in many cases, low energy consumption buildings do not achieve the expected performances. This problem is largely due to: 1) the loss of information throughout the building life cycle, 2) the non-regular evaluation of the decisions made by the actors intervening in their conception. The commissioning, as a quality control process, plays an important role in the good progress of the realization process of low energy buildings case. This research aims to develop a methodology to assist the persons responsible of the commissioning in the definition of commissioning plans adapted to their projects. Firstly, we performed a state of art of the low energy consumption buildings realisation that we then confronted, to the reality through an investigation with building actors and a study of real cases. This step allowed us to formulate a hypothesis concerning the necessity of a "progressive" commissioning -adapted to project particularities - and to describe a global methodology of assistance to the low energy consumption buildings realisation that integrates a decision making aid, an information management and a "progressive" commissioning that verify the good realisation of the two first functions. To put this methodology into application, a toolbox was developed. It comprises: 1) a tool named "static" that allows defining a first generic commission plan that satisfies the project characteristics, based on an exhaustive data of commissioning tasks, 2) a tool named "dynamic" based on the probabilities, that allows updating the initial (generic) commissioning plan. This update manages the unexpected events met during the project realization; witch permits the commissioning plan to be more precise. An experimentation of the first tool was done in a real case and applications of the second were done to show their possibilities and their limits. The results show two important points: 1) the interest of having a structured and progressive commissioning plan to verify the quality of low energy consumption buildings realisation and guarantee the achievement of the expected performances, 2) the interest of using a probabilistic tool such as the Bayésien networks to anticipate the drifts and to deal with the unexpected events met throughout the building life cycle. This methodology represents a basis for the development of assistance tools for the definition of commissioning "progressive" plans for the new and the existing, and all the building sectors

The script, Millennium Bridge, is an investigation into the passions and fears that are shaping contemporary Australia today. Charting the political climate of the past decade, at the play's centre a man is building a bridge from Australia to Asia. The central dramatic question being asked is &quotIn an environment where the emphasis on economic prosperity overrides that of human rights and freedom of speech--what will be the consequences for the Australian people?" The accompanying analysis of the ten-year period it took to write Millennium Bridge illuminates the significance of institutional issues on a play and playwright's development. Written from the perspective of a mid-career playwright, the paper argues that the professional and personal circumstances within which a work of art is created (and their effect on the playwright's confidence and financial capacities) are a significant determinant of the productivity of playwrights.

The subject of this diploma thesis is the simulation and digital commissioning of a robotic production system for welding elements such as studs on sheet metal parts. The basis of the work is search of information related to industrial robots, PLC control, tools used for welding, fixtures, manipulators, sensors, safety and protection elements commonly used in such production systems. The second part of the work deals with the given problem and it is a virtual commissioning of the given concept of a robotic production system. This means creating its simulation model in the Process Simulate environment, selecting robots, creating robotic trajectories, collision analysis, creating sensors, signals and optimization. Last part includes the connection of the simulation model with the software S-7PLCSIM Advanced and TIA Portal, the creation of control PLC logic in the form of a program, visualization and verification of their functionality using the above-mentioned connection with the simulation model.