2012 UMKC Theses - Access Restricted to UMKC
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The items in this collection are the scholarly output of UMKC graduate students.The items in this collection are theses that are available only to members of the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus. Click on one of the browse buttons above for a complete listing of the works.
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Item The Brain is an Iceberg(2012) Murphy, Jordan D.; Terrell, WhitneyThe stories in this collection focus on utilizing formal experimentation in order to illuminate the struggles of characters. For example, the title story focuses a couple that enters a photo booth and leaves with a doomed relationship; the entire story occurs in less than five minutes. Others illustrate characters that do not know how to deal with their interpersonal relationships: a son rants at a family get-together, a brother seeks help from his drunkard sibling, a man gets out his vehicle on a crowded highway, and a loner struggles to connect with his fellow humans. These conflicts are deepened and magnified through some formal excursions, but many of the stories adhere to conventional modes of storytelling, offering up a varied exploration of the human experience.Item The shepherd of the hills(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2012) Whelan, Christopher Lawrence, 1954-; Brian, Mitch, 1961-One spring day, an elderly man from the city, Daniel Howitt, enters the Ozark Mountains, ostensibly on a vacation to improve his health, which has suffered due to events concerning his believed long-dead son, Howard, an artist, and the disappearance of his great masterpiece, "Girl By the Spring." Daniel encounters a group of hooded horsemen, the Baldknobbers, on the trail, luckily off the road when they pass him, and a young girl, Sammy Lane, who befriends him and becomes his contact with the closed-world of the Ozark Hills. Sammy has a need for Daniel's friendship, too, having promised to marry a childhood friend, Ollie Stewart, who currently resides in the city, setting the couple up with a good life, away from the poverty of the Hills. Sammy turns to Daniel for an education about the ways of the city, and they decide an exchange of knowledge about each other's world would benefit them both. But the Baldknobbers, an outlaw group that must be overly suspicious of strangers for their protection, especially the most dangerous of the outlaws, Wash Gibbs, takes it upon himself to prove that Daniel is not what he says he is, but is actually sent by the Law to spy on them. Meanwhile, the more Sammy becomes educated in the ways of the city, the more she realizes that she really loves her other childhood friend, Matt Matthews. Ollie sees the writing on the wall when he visits and turns his back on Sammy and Matt to return to the city. A trip to the city for Sammy eventually leads to the unraveling of the mystery of the "Hant," and the discovery of Daniel's long-lost son and his masterpiece.Item Jaw mechanics and muscle behavior in adolescents with different craniofacial morphologies(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2012) Williams, Ashlee L.; Iwasaki, LauraJaw mechanics and muscle behavior were evaluated in ten dolichofacial versus ten brachyfacial adolescents. Subjects consented to participate. Numerical modeling predicted TMJ loads for molar biting angles based on minimization of muscle effort and subjects' anatomical geometries (from cephalograms and jaw-tracking). Joint loads were compared via response surface regressions and F tests (α=0.05) determined between-group differences. Surface masseter and anterior temporalis electromyography were recorded, unilaterally over two days and nights and bilaterally at two laboratory sessions when subjects did biting tasks to calibrate field recordings. Muscle duty factors were calculated for magnitude (%electromyography/20N bite) and duration thresholds and between-group differences evaluated using repeated measures ANOVA and Tukey-Kramer post hoc tests. Ipsilateral TMJ loads were 9% or larger in dolichofacial than brachyfacial subjects about seventeen-fold more frequently. Masseter muscles were significantly more active in dolichofacial compared to brachyfacial subjects by three-fold at thresholds of 5% (P<0.01) and 10% (P<0.05). This abstract of 148 words is approved as to form and content.Item Effects of topical fluoride prophylactic agents on the mechanical properties of orthodontic nickel-titanium closed coil springs(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2012) McGivern, Genavieve Lynn; Walker, Mary P.This study evaluated topical fluoride effects on mechanical properties of nickel-titanium orthodontic closed coil springs. Unloading force and rigidity were measured at 1, 4, 8, and 12 weeks, after springs were exposed to phosphate buffered saline (PBS), PBS combined with acidulated fluoride (PBS+APF) or sodium fluoride (PBS+NaF) with or without spring static loading. Scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize spring topography after 12 weeks. Based on an analysis of variance (α=.05), there was a significant effect of experimental condition, static load, and time. Across conditions and time, static load produced a significant decrease in properties. With topical fluoride treatments, there was a significant property decrease due to PBS+APF with loaded and non-loaded springs but only after 12 weeks. Corrosive topographical changes were observed with all conditions, particularly PBS+APF-loaded springs. Results suggest topical fluoride use with Ni-Ti springs may contribute to prolonged treatment duration due to decreased unloading properties.Item The influence and implications of national culture on entrepreneurial activity : a contrastive investigation of Sweden and the United States(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2012-08-17) Andersson, Fredrik O.; Gamer, Robert E., 1938-In recent years, both academic scholars and policy makers have embraced the notion of the entrepreneurial economy. While no country completely lacks entrepreneurial activity there are major differences in the level of entrepreneurship between nations. This thesis attempts to explain what leads to such differences by focusing on differences in national culture between Sweden and the United States. By contrasting three value constructs; (1) social contract values (2) consensus values, and (3) modernity-rational values, this thesis will provide a picture of the entrepreneurial cultural landscape in Sweden and the United States. In particular, the national values will be juxtaposed to those values commonly linked to entrepreneurship.
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