A evolução da computação móvel melhora a capacidade de comunicação e colaboração das pessoas. Os principais pilares desta transformação são: o desenvolvimento e produção de dispositivos móveis com capacidade multimídia e equipados com duas ou mais interfaces de rede, a disponibilidade de conectividade sem fio ubíqua e a popularização de aplicações sociais online. As redes sociais online merecem destaque pelas funcionalidades que permitem a criação e compartilhamento de conteúdo digital dentro de círculos sociais, também chamado de mídia social. Serviços na web anexam a localização geográfica do dispositivo ao conteúdo digital, criando as chamadas mídias sociais baseadas em localização. Equipadas com seus telefones e tablets, as pessoas estão criando e consumindo mídias sociais em qualquer lugar. Entretanto, é um desafio manter tais dispositivos móveis conectados nos ambientes de rede sem fio atuais e de próxima geração e.g., múltiplos provedores de acesso e múltiplas tecnologias de comunicação. Pesquisas recentes propõem componentes para o gerenciamento de conectividade sem fio que fazem uso simultâneo do contexto de conectividade atual e de um conjunto destes dados coletados no passado. Tais componentes são preditores de mobilidade, mecanismos de handover ou gerenciadores de mobilidade que utilizam dados de contexto de conectividade de forma particular para atingir seus propósitos. Na presente investigação, propomos uma metodologia que orquestra os principais componentes de gerenciamento de conectividade em um laço retro alimentado. Argumentamos que a coleta de dados de contexto de conectividade pode ser projetada como um sistema de sensoreamento, cujo sensores são as interfaces de rede sem fio. Como parte deste sistema de sensoriamento, os círculos sociais podem assistir o gerenciamento de conectividade compartilhando dados de contexto de conectividade. A ideia central é utilizar serviços baseados em localização para compartilhar dados de contexto de conectividade dentro dos círculos sociais. Desta forma, as redes sociais online adicionam escala para o sistema e permite colaboração em volta de dados de contexto recentes, locais, personalizados e sociais. O objetivo é melhorar experiências de conectividade sem fio e.g., métricas de QoS (Quality of Service) como: vazão, latência e qualidade do sinal. Relatamos como os dados de contexto de conectividade são manipulados com um modelo baseado em grafos e métricas como: intensidade do vértice e grau centralidade. Com isso, identificamos áreas com alta densidade de handovers, definimos a reputação dos usuários e revelamos a cobertura das redes. Resultados de experimentos mostram que a colaboração pode melhorar métricas de QoS de ~18 a ~30% se comparado ao uso de um preditor de mobilidade ou um sistema operacional moderno, respectivamente. Esta discussão se desdobra com foco na viabilidade da solução em termos de sobrecarga de armazenamento e consumo de energia. Os promissores resultados experimentais indicam que nossa solução pode melhorar experiências de conectividade sem fio de usuários móveis / The evolution of mobile computing improves communication and collaboration among people. The main pillars of this transformation are: the development and production of mobile devices with multimedia capabilities and equipped with two or more network interfaces, the availability of ubiquitous wireless connectivity and the popularity of online social applications. Online social networks noteworthy features that allow for the creation and sharing of digital content within social circles, also called textit Social Media. Web Services attach the geographic location of the device to the digital content, creating the so-called textit location-based social media. Equipped with their phones and tablets, people are creating and consuming social media anywhere. However, it is a challenge to keep such mobile devices connected in current and next generation wireless network environments textit e.g., multiple ISPs (Internet Service Provider) and multiple communication technologies. Recent researches proposes components for managing wireless connectivity that make simultaneous use of the current and past connectivity context data. Such components are mobility predictors, handovers mechanisms or mobility managers that use connectivity context data in a particular way to achieve its purposes. In this research, we propose feasiable a methodology that orchestrates the main components of the connectivity management in a feedback loop. We argue that the process of gathering connectivity context data can be designed as a sensing system, whose sensors are wireless network interfaces. As part of this sensing system, the social circles may assist the management of connectivity by sharing connectivity context data. The main idea is to use location-based services to share connectivity context data within social circles. Thus, online social networks add scale to the system and enables collaboration around recent, local, and social context data. The goal is to enhance wireless connectivity experiences in terms of QoS ( textit Quality of Service) metrics textit e.g., throughput, latency and signal quality. We report how this data is handled using complex networks metrics e.g., vertexs strength and centrality degree, to identify high density handover areas, define the mobile users reputation and to reveal the networks coverage. Real experiments showed that collaboration can improve QoS metrics from ~18 to ~30% if compared to just use a mobility predictor or a modern operational system, respectively. The discussion unfolds with focus on the collaborations efficiency as function of time, number of users, discovered area size and mobility patterns. The promising experimental results indicate that our solution can enhance mobile users wireless connectivity experiences

The study of landscape structure and configuration is firmly established as integral to the continued advancement of ecology. The configuration of resource patches can have far-reaching implications for biodiversity, metapopulation dynamics, community structure, and habitat quality. Human activities, such as forestry, agriculture, and residential construction alter patch configuration by breaking larger patches into smaller fragments. This frequently results in pronounced, unforeseen consequences for species. The fragmentation and shrinking of habitat patches can lead to changes in the environmental conditions within the remaining patches (e.g., degradation), prompting responses from local populations. These responses can, in turn, cause changes to the metapopulation structure on large spatial scale.<br>I examined the relationship between the degree of habitat fragmentation (edge density), and forewing lengths of the ebony jewelwing damselfly (Calopteryx maculata Beauvois, Odonata: Calopterygidae). I used correlated random walks to determine the biologically relevant landscape area over which forest fragmentation was calculated. Then, I used Moran’s I to determine the spatial scale of wing length response to fragmentation. I found that wing lengths increased with edge density. I also found that wing lengths were spatially autocorrelated at distances below 5 Km. These findings suggest that damselflies adapt to changes in forest fragmentation at a relatively small spatial scale.<br>Next, I assessed the slime mold Physarum polycephalum’s usefulness as a microcosm of dispersal in fragmented landscapes. Slime mold plasmodia were placed in dishes with oat patches of varying sizes and distances. The probability of each patch type being colonized first was compared to predictions of patch occupancy based on C. maculata. Patches that were nearer or larger were likely to be colonized before patches that were more distant, or smaller. Observed patch occupancy matched model predictions when only patch distance was varied, but not when patch size was varied. These results suggest that P. polycephalum has the potential to serve as a useful microcosm of dispersal in patchy landscapes. However, more testing is needed to develop the microcosm system. <br>Finally, a lesson plan was developed to teach high school students about the concepts of landscape ecology and connectivity. An emphasis was placed on using active learning techniques, which have been demonstrated to result in greater understanding than traditional lecture formats. The lesson plan incorporates an education boardgame, Humans & Habitats, that I developed to illustrate how the conflicting goals of resource managers impact habitat connectivity. It also incorporates a scientific inquiry activity that uses P. polycephalum to test predictions about the effect of altered connectivity. The lesson plan and materials will be available to members of the public, free of charge.<br><br>

Denna uppsats har skapats för att agera underlag vid framtagandet av en strukturskiss över fastigheten Nya Jägersro, som ligger i den sydöstra delen av Malmö. Uppsatsen syftar till att skapa ett designkoncept som kombinerar social och ekologisk hållbarhet, för att utforska en förändrad syn på hur en plats blir ekologiskt hållbar, detta utan att förbise platsens kvaliteter. Uppsatsens frågeställningar adresserar två problem. Den första är hur dagens stadsplanering väljer att förtäta städer baserat på stadsideal i syfte att bygga hållbart. Den andra ligger i syn på vad anses som göra en stad ekologiskt hållbar. För att adressera dessa problem är uppsatsens syfte att ta fram ett designkoncept som kombinerar social och ekologisk hållbarhet och som tar hänsyn till platsens specifika kvaliteter. Teorin baseras på begreppen Ekologisk urbanism och R-urbanitet, som båda eftersträvar hållbara städer, tillsammans med kompletterande teoretiska byggstenar som fungerar som bryggan mellan teori och verklighet. Arbetet använder sig av två metoder, en kvalitativ- och en design-tänk metod. De metoder av datainsamling som har använts är platsundersökning, litteraturstudier och semistrukturerade intervjuer. Designkonceptet som slutligen presenteras består av ett alternativt sätt att designa städer. Verktygen till detta alternativ har funnits genom design-tänkande som kompletterande metod, där de teoretiska byggstenarna tillsammans kunnat skapa en ständigt förändrande process som skapar en hållbar stadsdel med ett hållbart levnadssätt i fokus. I framtiden kan designkonceptet hjälpa till att uppnå en mer ekologiskt hållbar stad, som tar sig an alla aspekter i staden vilket kan göra staden helt ekologiskt hållbar istället för delvis miljövänlig. Detta sammanfaller i flera avseenden med SMT:s och Malmö Stads agendor, men avviker delvis i vissa aspekter. Den största avvikande faktorn i relation till SMT Malmö Partner Holding AB (MKB Fastighets AB, Skanska Sverige AB och Tornet Bostadsproduktion AB) är att ‘Nya Jägersro’ enligt det förslag som presenteras i uppsatsen inte föreslås lika tätbebyggt som SMT eftersträvar. Det som uppsatsen argumenterar för är ett förslag som är formad efter Jägersros plastkvaliteter som en plats mellan stad och landsbygd. / This thesis has been made to act as the basis for the development of a structural sketch over the estate, Nya Jägersro, in the southeastern part of Malmö. The thesis seeks to create a design concept that combines social and ecological sustainability and to explore a changed view of how a site becomes ecologically sustainable without overlooking the site's qualities. The thesis questions are based on two problems. The first one is how today's city planning chooses to densify cities based on ideals to build sustainably. The second one is the view of what is sustainable. To address these problems the thesis purpose is to produce a design concept that combines social and ecological sustainability and takes the site's specified qualities into consideration. The theory consists of the concept’s Ecological urbanism and the R-urban, both striving for sustainable development and complemented by theoretical building blocks which work as the bridge between theory and reality. The method used in this thesis is a qualitative method combined with design-thinking. The used methods for information gathering are site observation, literary studies, and semi-structured interviews. The proposed design concept builds on an alternative way to design cities. The tools used for this alternative way of designing have been developed through design-thinking as a complementing method where the theoretical building blocks, together, creates a continuously transformative process that aim to create sustainable neighborhoods with a focus on a more sustainable way of life. The design concept seek to help realizing a more ecological city in practice, that takes on all aspects of the city which can make the city ecological instead of just environmentally friendly. The design concepts, thus align with SMT:s and Malmö Stads agendas, but differs in some aspects. The largest differentiating factor is the view on how dense Nya Jägersro should be built, and how the site´s urban and rural qualities can be taken as a point of departure for designing the new built environment.

Disruptive innovation calls for disruptive change as it poses both opportunities as well as threats to established companies. However, many companies fail to integrate new technologies and industry leaders see their position being claimed by more ambidextrous companies. This thesis investigates the introduction of connectivity solutions in the metrology sector, and how it impacts the business model of traditional organisations. The research has been conducted through a single case study of a B2B provider of hardware and software solutions in the metrology sector. Based on the research including interviews and literature review, the most important conclusions drawn are: • Connectivity drives significant business opportunities for the service organisation of Maxfil • The identified business opportunities of connectivity demand significant change requirements of the business model; all parts of the business model are subjective to change • Change management can be a tool to highlight flawed strategies in adopting connectivity, thus facilitating business model innovation The study contributes to the field of science and business model innovation by emphasising the importance of change management, decreasing the gap between the research fields. Suggestions for future research is to validate the findings of the study by extending the scope of the thesis and include multiple organisations on their way of adopting connectivity. / Disruptiv innovation kräver omfattande förändring eftersom det utgör både möjligheter och hot mot etablerade företag. Många företag misslyckas däremot med att integrera ny teknik, och branschledare förlorar sin ställning till mer ambidextra företag. Denna studie undersöker införandet av uppkoppling inom metrologisektorn, och hur det påverkar affärsmodellen för traditionella organisationer. Studien har genomförts genom en fallstudie av en B2B-leverantör av hårdvaru- och mjukvarulösningar inom metrologisektorn. Baserat på forskningen, inklusive intervjuer och litteraturstudie, är de viktigaste slutsatserna: • Uppkoppling av industrin driver stora affärsmöjligheter för Maxfils serviceorganisation • De identifierade affärsmöjligheterna av uppkoppling för industrin kräver stora förändringar av affärsmodellen; alla delar av affärsmodellen är föremål för förändring • Förändringshantering kan vara ett verktyg för att identifiera bristfälliga strategier när det gäller att integrera uppkopplingsteknologi, vilket underlättar affärsmodellsinnovation Studien bidrar till fältet för vetenskap och affärsmodellsinnovation genom att betona vikten av förändringshantering, vilket i sin tur minskar klyftan mellan forskningsområdena. Förslag till framtida forskning är att validera resultaten av studien genom att utvidga studiens omfattning och inkludera flera organisationer på väg att integrera uppkopplingsteknologi.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Biology / Craig Paukert / River discharge influences fish and invertebrate communities and understanding how hydrologic variables contribute to fish and invertebrate composition can provide information for restoration and management. This study examines the relationship between several flow regime metrics that may influence fish and invertebrate community structure in large river systems such as the Kansas River. First, I examined how hydrology influences macroinvertebrate (drifting and benthic) density and fish communities before, during, and after flooding in both main and secondary channels. I found that drifting invertebrate density increased during flooding potentially providing increased prey opportunities for fishes. I also found that fluvial dependent and generalist fish species use inundated habitats more than fluvial specialists. My results suggest that the flux of water into inundated habitats supports a unique subset of invertebrate and fish communities of the main channel. Next, I examined the importance of lateral connectivity on fish and invertebrate composition by examining differences in seasonally and permanently inundated secondary channels in relation to main channel reaches. I found that drifting and benthic invertebrate assemblages and fish assemblages differed between seasonally inundated and permanently connected secondary channels. These results suggest that maintenance of diverse secondary channel connections is useful in preserving native biota in the Kansas River. Finally, I tested if hydrologic variables influenced recruitment of four native Kansas River fishes. I found that recruitment for two of the four fish species (flathead catfish, Pylodictis olivaris, and shovelnose sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) increased in high flow years. These results indicate that a natural and variable flow regime may be important for maintaining fish community structure in the Kansas River. The results of this study have implications for management strategies that include the use of high flows to provide a pulse of insect prey to the main channel for fishes, restoration of natural high and low flow variability as important to fish recruitment, and diversity in secondary channel connectivity (seasonal and permanently connected) that promotes unique fish and invertebrate communities.

Master of Science / Department of Geology / Saugata Datta / With the ever-rising atmospheric concentrations of CO₂ there arises a need to either reduce emissions or develop technology to store or utilize the gas. Geologic carbon storage is a potential solution to this global problem. This work is a part of the U.S. Department of Energy small-scale pilot studies investigating different areas for carbon storage within North America, with Kansas being one of them. This project is investigating the feasibility for CO₂ storage within the hyper-saline Arbuckle aquifer in Kansas. The study incorporates the investigation of three wells that have been drilled to basement; one well used as a western calibration study (Cutter), and the other two as injection and monitoring wells (Wellington 1-28 and 1-32). Future injection will occur at the Wellington field within the Arbuckle aquifer at a depth of 4,900-5,050 ft. This current research transects the need to understand the lateral connectivity of the aquifers, with Cutter being the focus of this study. Three zones are of interest: the Mississippian pay zone, a potential baffle zone, and the Arbuckle injection zone. Cored rock analyses and analyzed formation water chemistry determined that at Wellington there exists a zone that separated the vertical hydrologic flow units within the Arbuckle. This potential low porosity baffle zone within the Arbuckle could help impede the vertical migration of the buoyant CO₂ gas after injection. Geochemical analysis from formation water within Cutter indicates no vertical separation of the hydrologic units and instead shows a well-mixed zone. The lateral distance between Cutter and Wellington is approximately 217 miles. A well-mixed zone would allow the CO₂ plume to migrate vertically and potentially into potable water sources. Formation brine from Cutter was co-injected with supercritical CO₂ into a cored rock from within the Arbuckle (7,098 ft.). Results show that the injected CO₂ preferentially preferred a flow pathway between the chert nodules and dolomite. Post reaction formation chemistry of the brine showed the greatest reactivity occurring with redox sensitive species. Reactivity of these species could indicate that they will only be reactive on the CO₂ plumes front, and show little to no reactivity within the plume.

Obesity is associated with structural and functional alterations in brain areas that are often functionally distinct and anatomically distant. This suggests that obesity is associated with differences in functional connectivity of regions distributed across the brain. However, studies addressing whole brain functional connectivity in obesity remain scarce. Here, we compared voxel-wise degree centrality and eigenvector centrality between participants with obesity (n=20) and normal-weight controls (n=21). We analyzed resting state and task-related fMRI data acquired from the same individuals. Relative to normal-weight controls, participants with obesity exhibited reduced degree centrality in the right middle frontal gyrus in the resting-state condition. During the task fMRI condition, obese participants exhibited less degree centrality in the left middle frontal gyrus and the lateral occipital cortex along with reduced eigenvector centrality in the lateral occipital cortex and occipital pole. Our results highlight the central role of the middle frontal gyrus in the pathophysiology of obesity, a structure involved in several brain circuits signaling attention, executive functions and motor functions. Additionally, our analysis suggests the existence of task-dependent reduced centrality in occipital areas; regions with a role in perceptual processes and that are profoundly modulated by attention.

In this thesis, we focus on the following topics: supereulerian graphs, hamiltonian line graphs, fault-tolerant Hamiltonian laceability of Cayley graphs generated by transposition trees, and several extremal problems on the (minimum and/or maximum) size of graphs under a given graph property. The thesis includes six chapters. The first one is to introduce definitions and summary the main results of the thesis, and in the last chapter we introduce the furture research of the thesis. The main studies in Chapters 2 - 5 are as follows. In Chapter 2, we explore conditions for a graph to be supereulerian.In Section 1 of Chapter 2, we characterize the graphs with minimum degree at least 2 and matching number at most 3. By using the characterization, we strengthen the result in [93] and we also address a conjecture in the paper.In Section 2 of Chapter 2, we prove that if $d(x)+d(y)\geq n-1-p(n)$ for any edge $xy\in E(G)$, then $G$ is collapsible except for several special graphs, where $p(n)=0$ for $n$ even and $p(n)=1$ for $n$ odd. As a corollary, a characterization for graphs satisfying $d(x)+d(y)\geq n-1-p(n)$ for any edge $xy\in E(G)$ to be supereulerian is obtained. This result extends the result in [21].In Section 3 of Chapter 2, we focus on a conjecture posed by Chen and Lai [Conjecture~8.6 of [33]] that every 3-edge connected and essentially 6-edge connected graph is collapsible. We find a kind of sufficient conditions for a 3-edge connected graph to be collapsible.In Chapter 3, we mainly consider the hamiltonicity of 3-connected line graphs.In the first section of Chapter 3, we give several conditions for a line graph to be hamiltonian, especially we show that every 3-connected, essentially 11-connected line graph is hamilton- connected which strengthens the result in [91].In the second section of Chapter 3, we show that every 3-connected, essentially 10-connected line graph is hamiltonian-connected.In the third section of Chapter 3, we show that 3-connected, essentially 4-connected line graph of a graph with at most 9 vertices of degree 3 is hamiltonian. Moreover, if $G$ has 10 vertices of degree 3 and its line graph is not hamiltonian, then $G$ can be contractible to the Petersen graph.In Chapter 4, we consider edge fault-tolerant hamiltonicity of Cayley graphs generated by transposition trees. We first show that for any $F\subseteq E(Cay(B:S_{n}))$, if $|F|\leq n-3$ and $n\geq4$, then there exists a hamiltonian path in $Cay(B:S_{n})-F$ between every pair of vertices which are in different partite sets. Furthermore, we strengthen the above result in the second section by showing that $Cay(S_n,B)-F$ is bipancyclic if $Cay(S_n,B)$ is not a star graph, $n\geq4$ and $|F|\leq n-3$.In Chapter 5, we consider several extremal problems on the size of graphs.In Section 1 of Chapter 5, we bounds the size of the subgraph induced by $m$ vertices of hypercubes. We show that a subgraph induced by $m$ (denote $m$ by $\sum\limits_{i=0}^ {s}2^{t_i}$, $t_0=[\log_2m]$ and $t_i= [\log_2({m-\sum\limits_{r=0}^{i-1}2 ^{t_r}})]$ for $i\geq1$) vertices of an $n$-cube (hypercube) has at most $\sum\limits_{i=0}^{s}t_i2^{t_i-1} +\sum\limits_{i=0}^{s} i\cdot2^{t_i}$ edges. As its applications, we determine the $m$-extra edge-connectivity of hypercubes for $m\leq2^{[\frac{n}2]}$ and $g$-extra edge-connectivity of the folded hypercube for $g\leq n$.In Section 2 of Chapter 5, we partially study the minimum size of graphs with a given minimum degree and a given edge degree. As an application, we characterize some kinds of minimumrestricted edge connected graphs.In Section 3 of Chapter 5, we consider the minimum size of graphs satisfying Ore-condition.

L'insula est une structure complexe impliquée dans une variété de fonctions. Les études de connectivité par traçage chez les primates non humains ont révélé une multitude de connexions corticales entre l'insula et les lobes frontal (cortex orbitofrontal, cortex préfrontal, régions cingulaires, aire motrice supplémentaire), pariétal (cortex somatosensoriel primaire et secondaire) et temporal (pôle temporal, cortex auditif, cortex prorhinal et entorhinal). Les études de tractographie chez l'humain ont révélé des connexions structurelles similaires, mais n'ont pas rapporté de connexion avec le cortex cingulaire, malgré que cette structure soit reconnue comme étant fonctionnellement connectée à l’insula. Ce projet vise à approfondir la recherche sur la connectivité structurelle entre ces deux structures ainsi que d'autres régions connues comme étant fonctionnellement connectées à l'insula, à l'aide d'un échantillon plus grand et des plus récentes méthodes en tractographie par l’imagerie à haute résolution de diffusion angulaire basée sur des a priori anatomiques. En analysant les données de 46 participants adultes en bonne santé, notre étude rapporte un large éventail de connexions entre l’insula et les lobes frontal, temporal, pariétal et occipital ainsi que les régions limbiques, suivant un patron d’organisation rostrocaudal. Notamment, nous démontrons pour la première fois une connexion structurelle claire entre l’insula et les gyri cingulaire, parahippocampique, supramarginal et angulaire ainsi que le précunéus et les régions occipitales. / The insula is a complex structure involved in a wide range of functions. Tracing studies on non-human primates reveal a wide array of cortical connections in the frontal (orbitofrontal and prefrontal cortices, cingulate areas, and supplementary motor area), parietal (primary and secondary somatosensory cortices) and temporal (temporal pole, auditory, prorhinal and entorhinal cortices) lobes. However, recent human tractography studies have not observed connections between the insula and the cingulate cortices, although these structures are thought to be functionally intimately connected. In this work, we try to unravel the structural connectivity between these regions and other known functionally connected structures, benefiting from a higher number of subjects and the latest state-of-the-art high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) tractography algorithms with anatomical priors. By performing a HARDI tractography analysis on 46 young normal adults, our study reveals a wide array of connections between the insula and the frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital lobes as well as limbic regions, with a rostro-caudal organization in line with tracing studies in macaques. Notably, we reveal for the first time in humans a clear structural connectivity between the insula and the cingulate, parahippocampal, supramarginal and angular gyri as well as the precuneus and occipital regions.

La douleur est une expérience perceptive comportant de nombreuses dimensions. Ces dimensions de douleur sont inter-reliées et recrutent des réseaux neuronaux qui traitent les informations correspondantes. L’élucidation de l'architecture fonctionnelle qui supporte les différents aspects perceptifs de l'expérience est donc une étape fondamentale pour notre compréhension du rôle fonctionnel des différentes régions de la matrice cérébrale de la douleur dans les circuits corticaux qui sous tendent l'expérience subjective de la douleur. Parmi les diverses régions du cerveau impliquées dans le traitement de l'information nociceptive, le cortex somatosensoriel primaire et secondaire (S1 et S2) sont les principales régions généralement associées au traitement de l'aspect sensori-discriminatif de la douleur. Toutefois, l'organisation fonctionnelle dans ces régions somato-sensorielles n’est pas complètement claire et relativement peu d'études ont examiné directement l'intégration de l'information entre les régions somatiques sensorielles. Ainsi, plusieurs questions demeurent concernant la relation hiérarchique entre S1 et S2, ainsi que le rôle fonctionnel des connexions inter-hémisphériques des régions somatiques sensorielles homologues. De même, le traitement en série ou en parallèle au sein du système somatosensoriel constitue un autre élément de questionnement qui nécessite un examen plus approfondi. Le but de la présente étude était de tester un certain nombre d'hypothèses sur la causalité dans les interactions fonctionnelle entre S1 et S2, alors que les sujets recevaient des chocs électriques douloureux. Nous avons mis en place une méthode de modélisation de la connectivité, qui utilise une description de causalité de la dynamique du système, afin d'étudier les interactions entre les sites d'activation définie par un ensemble de données provenant d'une étude d'imagerie fonctionnelle. Notre paradigme est constitué de 3 session expérimentales en utilisant des chocs électriques à trois différents niveaux d’intensité, soit modérément douloureux (niveau 3), soit légèrement douloureux (niveau 2), soit complètement non douloureux (niveau 1). Par conséquent, notre paradigme nous a permis d'étudier comment l'intensité du stimulus est codé dans notre réseau d'intérêt, et comment la connectivité des différentes régions est modulée dans les conditions de stimulation différentes. Nos résultats sont en faveur du mode sériel de traitement de l’information somatosensorielle nociceptive avec un apport prédominant de la voie thalamocorticale vers S1 controlatérale au site de stimulation. Nos résultats impliquent que l'information se propage de S1 controlatéral à travers notre réseau d'intérêt composé des cortex S1 bilatéraux et S2. Notre analyse indique que la connexion S1→S2 est renforcée par la douleur, ce qui suggère que S2 est plus élevé dans la hiérarchie du traitement de la douleur que S1, conformément aux conclusions précédentes neurophysiologiques et de magnétoencéphalographie. Enfin, notre analyse fournit des preuves de l'entrée de l'information somatosensorielle dans l'hémisphère controlatéral au côté de stimulation, avec des connexions inter-hémisphériques responsable du transfert de l'information à l'hémisphère ipsilatéral. / Pain is a perceptual experience comprising many dimensions. These pain dimensions interrelate with each other and recruit neuronal networks that process the corresponding information. Elucidating the functional architecture that supports different perceptual aspects of the experience is thus, a fundamental step to our understanding of the functional role of different regions in the cerebral pain matrix that are involved in the cortical circuitry underlying the subjective experience of pain. Among various brain regions involved in the processing of nociceptive information, primary and secondary somatosensory cortices (S1 and S2) are the main areas generally associated with the processing of sensory-discriminative aspect of pain. However the functional organization in these somatosensory areas is not completely clear and relatively few studies have directly examined the integration of information among somatic sensory regions. Thus, several questions remain regarding the hierarchical relationship between S1 and S2, as well as the functional role of the inter-hemispheric connections of the homologous somatic sensory areas. Likewise, the question of serial or parallel processing within the somatosensory system is another questionable issue that requires further investigation. The purpose of the present study was to test a number of causal hypotheses regarding the functional interactions between S1 and S2, while subjects were receiving painful electric shocks. We implemented a connectivity modeling approach, which utilizes a causal description of system dynamics, in order to study the interactions among activation sites defined by a data set derived from a functional imaging study. Our paradigm consists of 3 experimental scans using electric shock stimuli, with the stimulus intensity changing from moderately painful (level 3), to slightly painful (level 2), and to completely non-painful (level 1) during the final scan. Therefore our paradigm allowed us to investigate how stimulus intensity is encoded within our network of interest, and how the connectivity of the different regions is modulated across the different stimulus conditions. Our result is in favor of serial mode of somatosensory processing with thalamocortical input to S1 contralateral to stimulation site. Thus our results implicates that pain information is propogated from S1 contralateral through our network of interest comprising of bilateral S1 and S2. Our analysis indicates that S1→S2 connection is modulated by pain, which suggests that S2 is higher on the hierarchy of pain processing than S1, in accordance with previous neurophysiological and MEG findings. Lastly, our analysis provides evidence for the entrance of somatosensory information into the hemisphere contralateral to the stimulation side, with inter-hemispheric connections responsible for the transfer of information to the ipsilateral hemisphere.