Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Iowa, 2008. / Thesis supervisor: Bruce Gronbeck. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-170).

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-104).

Zugl.: Saarbrücken, Univ., Diss., 2010

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Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This research has been conducted by focusing on the trajectories of semiotic ensembles from various contexts that stand-up comedians exploited for aesthetic and communicative purposes. I apply the social semiotic theory of multimodality (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2001, 2006), and the notions of semiotic remediation (Bolter and Grusin, 1996, 2000) and resemiotization (Iedema, 2003) to selected audiovisual recordings performances of Trevor Noah and Loyiso Gola from South Africa; and Atunyota Akporobomeriere (Ali Baba) and Bright Okpocha (Basket Mouth) from Nigeria. I explore the trajectories of semiotic resources that the comedians used across modes, contexts and practices. I also trace the translation and interpretation of socio-cultural and political materials by South African and Nigerian stand-up comedians’ performances. The idea is also to examine the extent to which the socio-cultural and political contexts of both countries have differential effects on the choices in the semiotic resources used in the reconstruction of meanings, including cross socio-cultural taboos. The study reveals that combinations of various semiotic materials ranging from political, sociocultural, religious and personal lifestyles are remediated (repurposed) for comic and aesthetic effects. This involves translating and re-interpreting the semiotic resources across contexts and practices. In this regard, the study showed how the artists rework verbal language, images, socio-political discourses and other semiotic material for new meanings. It also reveals that although the choices of materials are similar, there is a tendency of localizing semiotic resources to particular localities and audiences, so that each artist’s performance comes out as unique to the person. The study concludes that language alone is not at the core of communication as other semiotic modes (in addition to languages) are integrated interweaving resources to make meaning. The direction of the modes or resources is multidimensional. All the spoken texts, all the non-linguistic modes: gestures, stance, movements, running on stage, postures, mimicking and others, perform vital roles to recontextualize meanings in stand-up comedy performance. Therefore, the study opens up new perspectives on social semiotic approaches to multimodality, as well as on language social semiotic and to theory and media studies. The contribution also answers the call to expand the understanding and research on the theory of ‘multimodality’ and the various concepts such as semiotic remediation and resemiotization associated with it.

The design and implementation of a small-scale solar energy conversion system is presented in this thesis. The power circuit of the PV inverter is composed of a push-pull converter and a full-bridge inverter. The inverter converts DC power generated by photovoltaic cells into AC power. This design allows flexible arrangements of various solar cells modules. The systems can supply loads and feed excess power to the grid with unit power factor when operated under grid-connected mode, or supply loads exclusively by operating in the stand-alone mode. In grid-connected mode, it is controlled to follow the variations of solar panel insolation for achieving maximum power point tracking. A 150W prototype of the conversion system is implemented, simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the performance.

3 pp. / The influence of crop species, seed size, seed viability, seed depth,irrigation practices,stand establishment and uniformity, seeding equipment, planting date, crop variety, and planting configuration on optimum seeding rate for small grains is discussed.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Drexel University, 2005. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-114).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2010. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 56 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 30-35).