Digital Commons Network^™

Three Implications For Leibniz’S Principle Of Sufficient Reason, Josiah Omiecinski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Principle of Sufficient Reason (PSR) states that for everything that is the case, there is a reason for it being the case. The PSR has been a widely used principle in philosophy dating back to Parmenides (~500 BCE). While many philosophers are commonly associated with the PSR, none are as strongly associated with it than Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. This paper derives three surprising implications for Leibniz’s PSR from Leibniz’s claim that God, an unlimited mind, does not engage in reasoning while limited minds, like humans, do engage in reasoning. The implications are: A distinction between the PSR qua a …

Hereditary Transmission Of Drumming Among The Anlo-Ewe: The Case Of Agbodo/Amuzu Family Of Hatsukorfe, Denu, Volta Region, Ghana, Ernest Elikplim Kwabla Adonoo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the hereditary transmission of drumming among the Anlo-Ewe of southeastern Ghana, focusing on the Agbodo/Amuzu family of Hatsuk?ƒe in the Volta Region. Situated within ethnomusicological discourse on traditional Anlo-Ewe musical practices and the specialized roles of the researched family, who are drummers of the exclusive Ye?e religious tradition, this research argues that drumming in this context is not merely a musical activity but a complex system of communication, identity, ritual authority, and cultural continuity. The study fills and addresses a significant gap in existing scholarship on the Anlo-Ewe music, which has largely emphasized community dance-drumming and institutional …

Sumset Lower Bounds In Abelian Groups, Van T. Huynh

Honors Theses

This thesis investigates sumset lower bounds across discrete and continuous settings. We begin with general inequalities in torsion-free abelian groups and then specialize to the integers modulo prime p, where we present the Cauchy–Davenport Theorem, which establishes the bound ∣A+B∣≥min(p,∣A∣+∣B∣−1). The equality case is further examined via Vosper's Theorem, which characterizes subsets attaining this bound as arithmetic progressions under suitable conditions. The continuous analogue in Euclidean spaces is then considered, where cardinality is replaced by Lebesgue measure. In this setting, the Brunn–Minkowski Inequality provides a sharp lower bound for the Lebesgue measure of A+B and serves as a geometric counterpart …

Jtc 26: Chosen, Called And Ready To Teach, Staff Report

University of Mississippi News

This story is part of the 2026 Journey to Commencement series, which celebrates the pinnacle of the academic year by highlighting University of Mississippi students and their outstanding academic and personal journeys from college student to college graduate.

April 30, 2026, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

Natural Products As Multi Drug-Multi Target Therapeutics - From The Pharmacological Proof To New Approaches For Quantitative Quality Control, Olaf Kelber

Oxford ICSB

In the two decades since the mode of action of herbal medicinal products has been characterized as the Multi Target action of Multi Drug combinations [1,2, 3], the body of evidence supporting the general applicability of this principle to herbal health products has been exponentially increasing.  Key studies describing this principle, based on a wide range of pharmacological models, have been conducted in STW 5 and STW 5-II, herbal combinations used in the treatment of disturbances of the gut-brain interaction (DGBIs) as e.g. upset stomach and irritable bowel syndrome [2, 4]. They allow to characterize the contribution of each combination …

April 23, 2026, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

Math In Melody: How Music Strikes A Chord With Memory And Learning, Aidan V. Waters

Honors Theses

As a result of personal curiosity, this thesis seeks to understand the current status of music integration within educational settings, discussing its importance and potential impact. By considering existing literature, it analyzes music’s effectiveness in K-12 education, particularly within the mathematics classroom. Based on the current body of research, the study identifies three key features of music integration: its effectiveness as an energizer, a memory tool, and a means of creating structure within the classroom. Building on these findings, a proposed ten-day, music-integrated Algebra I unit on functions is presented, applying the research in a variety of ways. The unit …

Alumna's Gift Creates Honors College Student Venture Fund, Michael Newsom

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – Long nights studying in the basement of the University of Mississippi's Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College prepared Jordan Lancaster Estes for a career arguing high profile cases in New York courtrooms.

Ole Miss Goldwater Scholar Searches Molecules For Life's Origins, Marvis Herring

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – Sealed in the frozen dust of a distant comet, there may be a molecule that helps explain how life began.

Functional Canonical Correlation For Discriminant Analysis, Yongli Sang

Probability & Statistics Seminar

Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) is a classical tool for measuring the dependence between two random vectors, X ∈ ℝ^p and Y ∈ ℝ^q. When X and Y are functionalcurves, functional canonical correlation analysis (FCCA) is used to characterize the linear association between random functions.

In this project, we develop a new FCCA framework for discriminant analysis when the response variable Y is categorical. The proposed dependence measure is constructed by extending the categorical Gini correlation to the functional setting, allowing us to quantify the association between a functional predictor and a categorical response. We establish theoretical properties …

Symmetrization In Isoperimetric Inequalities And Related Problems, Alexander Solynin

Analysis Seminar

Since its invention by Jacob Steiner in 1838, symmetrization method had found numerous applications in mathematics and its applications. As well known, Steiner introduced his symmetrization when searching for a geometric tool to solve the classical isoperimetric problem on the maximal area for planar regions with fixed perimeter. After Steiner, many outstanding mathematicians, including George Pólya, Gabor Szegő, James Jenkins, Igor Mityuk, Al Baernstein II, Vladimir Dubinin, introduced new symmetrizing procedures, each time targeting some unsolved extremal problem.

In the first part of this talk, I will introduce some of these transformations and discuss their applications to extremal problems in …

April 2, 2026, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

Minimax Lower Bounds For Uniform Estimation Of Covariate-Dependent Copula Parameters, Mathias Muia

Probability & Statistics Seminar

In this talk, we analyze uniform estimation of covariate-dependent copula parameters using local likelihood methods. Building on our recent preprint establishing uniform stochastic equicontinuity and convergence rates, we derive minimax lower bounds over Holder classes of calibration functions. Under mild regularity conditions on the copula family and the covariate design, we show that the minimax sup-norm risk over a compact covariate region is bounded below by the classical nonparametric rate for smooth functions on an s-dimensional domain. The proof combines a localized packing construction with a Fano–Le Cam testing argument, using second-order expansions of the conditional copula likelihood to control …

The Α-Test: A New Statistical Test For The Selection Of Reliable Principal Components, Seongjai Kim

Probability & Statistics Seminar

Principal component analysis (PCA) is a statistical technique for the dimensionality reduction of data, minimizing information loss and increasing interpretability. It does so by first extracting new uncorrelated variables which successively maximize variance in the remaining data spaces and then cutting off principal components (PCs) corresponding to small singular values.

However, for various applications, certain PCs must be eliminated to enhance the stability and reliability, although the corresponding singular values are not small. This article introduces an innovative statistical criterion for the selection of reliable PCs, called the α-Test.

The proposed test is analyzed, and effective computational algorithms are discussed …

March 26, 2026, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

Multivariate Gaussian Random Fields And Their Statistical Analysis, Yimin Xiao

Probability & Statistics Seminar

In this talk, we provide an overview of several classes of multivariate Gaussian random fields, including multivariate Matérn Gaussian fields and operator fractional Brownian motion, and vector-valued operator-scaling random fields. In particular, we characterize the dependence structures (via the coherence functions) among the coordinate processes and study their effects on estimation and prediction of multivariate Gaussian random fields. This talk is based on joint papers with Jeonghwa Lee, Guanyu Yang, Xiaochuan Yang, Yuzhen Zhou.

Structures, Strategies, And Skills For Effective Math Intervention, Sean Dean, Patty Witkowsky, Jessica Contreras, Michelle Kephart

Journal of Academic Underperformance

Many factors influence students’ readiness for college math, and some students enter college unprepared for the demands of their math courses. Effective placement strategies and robust support systems are essential for student success and degree completion. This qualitative narrative case study explores the experiences of college students working with a Math Learning Strategies Specialist (MLSS) and the specific strategies taught by the MLSS. Through one-on-one interviews, three key themes emerged: learning structures, strategies, and interpersonal skills. The MLSS contributed to participants' experiences by providing structured yet flexible support, tailored learning strategies, and a positive interpersonal environment. These combined elements enabled …

Redesigning Online Graduate Orientation To Foster Academic Resilience And Prevent Underperformance, Stella Michael-Makri, David E. Rodriguez

Journal of Academic Underperformance

Graduate students in fully online programs often begin their academic journey without adequate preparation for the emotional, structural, and cultural challenges of graduate-level work. For students who are first-generation, racially marginalized, international, or returning to education after time away, this lack of scaffolding can lead to early disengagement, underperformance, or attrition. Orientation, often treated as a checklist of logistical tasks, represents a missed opportunity for meaningful academic intervention. This manuscript proposes a five-module conceptual model for online graduate orientation designed to proactively support online graduate students in the domains of emotional regulation and academic identity, time management and executive functioning, …

Q&A With Filmmaker Antonio Tarrell On 'Cole: Bridge To Justice', Clara Turnage

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – Antonio Tarrell is a Mississippi filmmaker who recently co-directed "Cole: Bridge to Justice," a documentary on the life and legacy of University of Mississippi icon Donald Ray Cole.

Grove Scholars Endowment Honors Development Officer, Bill Dabney

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi alumni Johnny McRight, of Greenville, and Renvy Pittman, of Los Angeles, have established an endowment to honor an Ole Miss development officer admired for helping launch the Grove Scholars program and many other financial-assistance initiatives to benefit students.

Curriculum Materials Cataloged For Browsing, Michelle Emanuel

Library Publications

When the University of Mississippi Libraries acquired a collection of state-adopted school textbooks for K-12 from its School of Education, a decision was made to catalog the collection for browsing to anticipate the needs of its primary users, both “in service” and “pre-service” teachers. The textbooks would be grouped according to their grade level, and cuttered by subject area, instead of being classed according to its subject area. As the collection would be integrated into the regular circulating collection, and not into a curriculum materials center, issues arose for both technical services and access services throughout the process, from cataloging …

California Couple Adds $3 Million To Scholarship Fund, Tina H. Hahn

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – Bill and Melanie Roper, of La Jolla, California, are deepening their commitment to University of Mississippi students by adding $3 million to the Bill and Melanie Roper Scholarship Endowment, which began with a $2 million gift in 2022.

Major Gift From Alumnus Promotes Excellence In Stem Teaching, Bill Dabney

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi medical school graduate Dr. Bill Ashford and his wife, Leslie, of Madison, have made a $2 million donation to establish a named professorship in physics at Ole Miss.

Applied Statistics Course Offerings: Spring 2026, University Of Mississippi. Graduate School

GMAS Course List

No abstract provided.

Some Applications Of Derivatives In The Theory Of Equations, Commodore C. Dearman Jr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Additional Information For Fully Anharmonic Ir Spectra Of Neutral Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons With Up To 38 Carbons, Nolan J. H. White, Vincent J. Esposito, Christiaan Boersma, Louis J. Allamandola, Jesse D. Bregman, Alexandros Maragkoudakis, Pasquale Temi, Ryan C. Fortenberry

Faculty and Student Publications

Interstellar aromatic infrared band (AIB) spectra are showing strong agreement with presently-computed, anharmonic spectra for various types of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) determined using a novel semi-empirical quantum chemical method. Since the AIB spectrum is a blend of emission spectra from a vast number of different PAHs, likely with an array of different molecular structures, the spectra for a sample set of 31 PAHs ranging in size from naphthalene (C$_{10}$H$_8$) up to circumbiphenyl (C$_{38}$H$_{16}$) are combined giving consideration to almost all PAH structural motifs. The computed, numerical quartic force fields coupled to second-order vibrational perturbation theory clearly confirm that PAH …

Spotlight, Robert F. Manning

Tax Adviser

No abstract provided.

Choosing A Settlement Option Under A Defined Contribution Plan, W. Eugene Seago, Wayne E. Leininger

Tax Adviser

No abstract provided.

Role Of The Accountant In Tax Fraud Cases, Richard S. Helstein, Jules Ritholz

Tax Adviser

No abstract provided.