Ornithoprion

# Ornithoprion

## Abstract

Ornithoprion ('bird saw') is a monotypic genus of extinct eugeneodont holocephalan in the family Caseodontidae. The type and only species, O. hertwigi, lived during the Moscovian stage of the Carboniferous, between 315.2 to 307 million years ago, and is known from black shale deposits in what is now the Midwestern United States. The discovery and description of Ornithoprion, performed primarily via radiography, helped clarify the cranial anatomy of the eugeneodonts, a group which were previously known primarily from isolated tooth whorls. The genus derives its name from the elongate, bill-like rostrum and large eyes, which vaguely resemble the features of a bird, while the species name honors Oscar Hertwig. It is known from specimens preserving the skull and anterior portion of the body.

Ornithoprion is unique among known eugeneodonts in possessing an extension of the lower jaw, known as the mandibular rostrum, which was protected by a beak of dermal armor and which the function of is not known. It inhabited shallow, warm marine environments and coexisted with a variety of other cartilaginous fishes. The structure of its teeth suggest Ornithoprion was a durophage which hunted marine invertebrates, and in turn bite marks and damage to its fossils indicate it was fed on by other carnivores. The total length and weight of the species has not been estimated, but the largest skulls are approximately 10 cm (4 in) in length.

## Discovery and specimens

The genus and species were named and described in 1966, by geologist Rainer Zangerl, in a paper published by the Field Museum of Natural History (then the Chicago Museum of Natural History). This description was based on material collected primarily from the Mecca Quarry of Indiana, in black shale which is part of the Linton Formation. A single specimen was also collected from the Logan Quarry in an exposure of the Staunton Formation, and another from a coal mine near Wilmington, Illinois. All specimens are preserved in organic black shales, with the Illinois specimen being described as pyritic. The Mecca and Logan Quarry material has been dated to the Moscovian stage of the Carboniferous (Desmoinesian stage in American regional stratigraphy), which is part of the Pennsylvanian subperiod, and which lasted from 315.2 to 307 million years ago. The precise age and locality of the Illinois specimen is unknown due to it being held in a private collection. Nine specimens were initially described, with CNHM PF-2710 from the Mecca quarry being designated as the holotype. Multiple additional specimens have subsequently been assigned to Ornithoprion, including occurrences from the Excello Shale of Indiana.

Like many other chondrichthyans from the Mecca and Logan quarries, the studies of the holotype and paratypes of Ornithoprion were primarily performed by radiographic imaging. The specimens were not extracted from the surrounding matrix, but were instead stereoscopically scanned via X-rays, with the calcified elements of their skeletons appearing clearly against the rock. The captured images were subsequently printed and illustrated. The Staunton Formation specimen, CNHM PF-2656, was also cut into multiple cross-sections, with these being ground down to reveal the internal anatomy of the placoid scales and teeth. At the time of its discovery, Ornithoprion represented one of the best preserved eugeneodonts, and one of only a small few known from body fossils.

## Description

O. hertwigi is known from multiple articulated but incomplete specimens, with none preserving skeletal material beyond the pectoral girdle. Most of this material is preserved in lateral view, and all, including the holotype, is heavily compressed. The preserved portion of the skeleton was composed primarily of cartilage reinforced by prismatic tesserae, structures which are present in the skeletons of modern Elasmobranchs but which are not apparent in living chimaeras. These tesserae are also known from other members of Eugeneodontida and are not unique to Ornithoprion. While the postcranial anatomy is incompletely known, it was likely similar to other caseodontids such as Fadenia and Romerodus, with a streamline body, a homocercal caudal fin, and reduced or absent pelvic fins. The dorsal and pectoral fins of Ornithoprion are also unknown, but there is no indication they possessed fin spines like many other Carboniferous chondrichthyans. At least five branchial arches are present, although it is unknown if these supported individual gill slits or an operculum. The total body length is uncertain due to the incomplete nature of the fossils, although the largest skull measures approximately 10 cm (4 in).

### Skull and teeth

The most diagnostic trait of Ornithoprion is the exaggerated rostrum extending from the mandible, which is nearly the length of the rest of the skull. The rostrum, as well as a correlating section of the upper jaw, was armored and reinforced by rods of bone, which appear to have been dermal structures formed separately from the underlying cartilage. The mandibular rostrum is connected to the Meckel's cartilage (lower jaw) by an unfused joint, with a single whorl of teeth positioned along the midline near the base of the rostrum where it meets the jaw. A keel of cartilage extends off of the rostrum from below, correlating with the position of the whorl. The tip of the rostrum is extremely elongated, and according to Zangerl's description was likely to have been cylindrical in cross section and spear-like in life. There is no evidence that sensory structures were present within the rostrum. The Meckel's cartilage consists of a pair of thin, flattened cartilage rods which support the rostrum and which attach to the palatoquadrate.

The chondrocranium is long and pointed and possesses large eye sockets, a condition which vaguely resembles the skull of a bird and inspired the name of the genus. An indentation set far forward on the snout is reported by Zangerl to have likely held the nasal capsule, although it is unpreserved. The palatoquadrate, which typically forms the upper jaw of living cartilaginous fish, is reduced and immobile, and articulates with the chondrocranium in an autodiastylic, unfused manner. The reduced state differs greatly from that of the eugeneodont Helicoprion in which the palatoquadrates are large and specialized, and potentially from Sarcoprion, which may have them fused to the cranium. The palatoquadrate seen in Ornithoprion is most similar to that seen in other caseodonts such as Caseodus, which typically share its thin, band-like shape and limited articulation. The remains of what Zangerl speculated to be part of the hyoid arch are also present along the back of the skull.

The lower teeth of O. hertwigi consist of both multiple large tooth crowns extending from a single root, known as a tooth whorl, and of pavement teeth. The pavement teeth, which are plate-like, flattened, and rectangular, were present on both the upper and lower jaw and possessed deep pits and grooves in their surface. The structure of these teeth was compared with the tooth pavement of Erikodus, a related genus, in Zangerl's 1966 description. The lower symphyseal whorl, a characteristic trait of the eugeneodonts, possess up to seven broad, rounded tooth crowns, with the largest figured whorls spanning approximately 1 cm (.39 in) in length. The tooth crowns on the lower whorl vary in size, with the smallest teeth being situated at the front of the whorl and the largest at the back. It is thought that V-shaped teeth were present in another symphyseal row attached directly to the chondrocranium. These teeth, the largest figured being approximately 4 mm (.16 in) in length, were significantly different than those of the lower jaw, and the two likely contacted each other during feeding. Zangerl noted, however, that due to the nature of the material's preservation, the precise arrangement of O. hertwigi 's dentition is unknown.

### Postcranial skeleton

The known postcrania of Ornithoprion encompasses the anterior-most portion of the skeleton. The scapulocoradoids are unfused, unlike living chondrichthyans, with a forward-angled scapular portion. Either five or six pairs of ceratobranchials are present, with what Zangerl tentatively identifies as sternal cartilage running beneath them. This unpaired intercoracoidal cartilage has also be identified in living broadnose sevengill sharks, as well as the extinct Iniopterygians, the Jurassic Chimaeriform Ischyodus, and potentially Fadenia. The function of this structure in Ornithoprion is unknown, although it is likely homologous to similar, paired cartilage structures observed in other extinct chondrichthyans.

The vertebral centra of Ornithoprion were likely uncalcified and are unpreserved, although a series of diamond-shaped cartilage structures are present along the expected path of the vertebral column. These cartilage structures may represent heavily modified neural arches, the anatomy of which is unique to O. hertwigi. It is possible these structures are an adaptation to the morphology or function of the animal's skull.

### Dermal denticles

Unlike living chimaeras, in which scales are only present in isolated regions, the known body of Ornithoprion was completely covered in tiny denticles similar to those of sharks. These denticles possessed a pulp cavity and enameloid, and grew from a flattened base, much like those of modern cartilaginous fish. However, the bases of the denticles may have been composed of bone, rather than dentin, and many denticles form fused, compound, polydontode scales. These compound denticles share a single base with multiple crowns and pulp cavities emerging from it, and in O. hertwigi may consist of more than seven crowns sharing a single base. Similar polydontode scales are known to occur in the related Sarcoprion and potentially Helicoprion, although these are not noted to contain bone. If Zangerl's interpretation of the dermal structures of O. hertwigi is correct, it would represent a rare example of bone among extinct euchondrocephalans, which otherwise have scales and armor composed of dentin.

In his original 1966 description, Zangerl speculates that the reinforcing "beak" of bony rods present on the snout and rostrum were formed by the compounding of these polydontous denticles. He likens this phenomenon to that proposed by Oscar Hertwig as an explanation for the origin of vertebrate dermal armor, and although Zangerl acknowledges that this adaptation is almost definitely convergent in Ornithoprion, he honors Hertwig's hypothesis in the name of the type species.

## Classification

Though often referred to as sharks in both formal and informal texts, the eugeneodonts are only very distant relatives of living sharks. In its initial description, Ornithoprion was placed as a member of Edestidae under the order (sometimes class) Bradyodonti. In the 1971 edition of Paleozoic Fishes, researcher R. S. Miles considered the genus to be of uncertain position with Chondrichthyes, although still tentatively within Holocephali. He regarded its similarities with the edestids to potentially be the result of convergence, due to differences in the anatomy of the gills, teeth and palatoquadrate, although subsequent publications have not followed this hypothesis. In 1981, Zangerl placed O. hertwigi as a member of the Caseodontidae, as part of a larger superfamily Caseodontoidea and order Eugeneodontida, in light of the numerous new taxa and characteristics that had been observed since Ornithoprion's original description. This classification is still followed today, with Eugeneodontida itself typically being regarded as a stem group of the subclass Holocephali or Euchondrocephali and as part of a monophyletic Chondrichthyes. Euchondrocephali is today only represented by the chimaeras, and the higher level interrelationships between extinct members of the subclass remain enigmatic.

The skull and vertebral morphology of Ornithoprion is wildly different from that of other known eugeneodonts, and key elements of the postcranial skeleton are missing. Its assignment among the Caseodontidae is based on similarities in dentition and similar reduction of the palatoquadrate to that seen in genera such as Caseodus. Below is a cladogram based on that provided by Zangerl (1981) based on morphological analysis.

## Paleobiology and paleoecology

The Mecca, Logan, and Excello shales all represent marine depositional environments, and all preserve a diverse assemblage of species. The Mecca and Logan sites represent extremely shallow habitats, likely less than a meter (3.3 ft) of water, with small, isolated deeper areas. The presence of peat and coal indicate that the deposits overlay drowned forests, and the rich, black shale indicates massive amounts of decaying organic material, likely algae, was present, which formed organic mud. There is evidence of water levels lowering significantly during the dry season, often isolating fishes into small saltwater ponds or "fish traps" and creating ideal environments for preservation. The Logan and Mecca deposition environment likely only existed for a brief interval, with overlying invertebrate communities and limestone deposits indicating deeper water eventually flooded the region and created more stable conditions. The presence of larger fish and cephalopods at the Logan Quarry site may suggest somewhat deeper waters.

Ornithoprion fossils often contain a number of other remains in the same shale slabs, although in different bedding planes and not directly associated. These include isolated spines and denticles from acanthodians, Listracanthus, and Petrodus. The Mecca fauna, which includes both the Mecca and Logan Quarry sites, also preserves an assemblage of conodonts, palaeoniscoids, brachiopods, orthocones, and cartilaginous fish such as Orodus, Denaea, Cobelodus, Symmorium, and other holocephalans, including members of Iniopterygii. The Logan Quarry was inhabited by an unnamed chondrost -like actinopterygian with a similarly elongated rostrum, which was entirely unrelated to Ornithoprion and which remains unnamed. Invertebrates such as brachiopods and ammonoids are known from the Excello Shale, as well as a wide variety of cartilaginous fish including Listracanthus, Caseodus, Edestus, and Stethacanthus, all of which were roughly contemporaneous with Ornithoprion.

Numerous specimens of O. hertwigi show damage which Zangerl interprets as feeding traces left by predators or scavengers. Portions of the skeleton are often broken, maimed or missing, and it is postulated that the unpreserved rear halves of the animals may have been severed by predation attempts. The skull of the holotype and several assigned specimens have crushed or missing chunks, proposed to have resulted from other fishes biting or mouthing. Coprolites and fossilized pellets containing fish remains are often found in the same formations as Ornithoprion, which were likely produced by its predators. Like many of its close relatives, Ornithoprion itself is believed to have been a durophage which fed on benthic invertebrates, due to its dentition and the presence of crushed brachiopod shells known from the stomach of the related Fadenia.

The function of O. hertwigi's armored rostrum remains unclear. Zangerl (1966) proposes its use was to disturb or probe sediment while hunting for prey living on or within the seabed, as well as potentially flinging dislodged prey into the water column, but notes this proposal is entirely speculative. The anatomy of the mandibular rostrum is inconsistent with its use as a sensory structure, and features of the animal's skull, such as the armor and articulation of the upper and lower jaws, are suggested by Zangerl to be shock-absorbing adaptations, although use of the rostrum as a weapon is considered by him to be unlikely. The mandibular rostrum of Ornithoprion is said to most closely resemble those of the extinct actinopterygians Saurodon and Saurocephalus, in which the function is also not confidently known.


Konstantin Petrovich Nechaev

# Konstantin Petrovich Nechaev

## Abstract

Konstantin Petrovich Nechaev (Russian: Константин Петрович Нечаев, Polish: Konstantin Pietrowicz Nieczajew; 31 May 1883 – 5 February 1946) was an Imperial Russian Army officer and White movement leader, who commanded a large Russian mercenary army in China from 1924 to 1929. Fighting for the Fengtian clique warlords Zhang Zuolin and Zhang Zongchang, Nechaev took part in several wars of the Chinese Warlord Era until his mercenary force was destroyed in the Northern Expedition. Thereafter, he mostly retired from military service and became a White émigré community leader in Manchuria. Captured by SMERSH during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, Nechaev was executed by Soviet authorities in 1946.

## Early life and World War I

Konstantin Nechaev was born in Łódź, Russian Poland, on 31 May 1883, and later joined the Russian Imperial Army. He graduated from the Moscow cadet corps in 1902 and Tver Cavalry Junker School in 1904. He was commissioned as a cavalry officer in the 5th Lithuania Ulan Regiment, 1st Brigade of the 5th Cavalry Division. In 1907 Nechayev was transferred to the 5th Kargopol Dragoon Regiment in the same brigade. As of January 1909 he was a poruchik in that unit. Nechaev fought with the 5th Kargopol Dragoon Regiment in World War I, and rose in the ranks during the conflict. By 1916 he was listed as a staff rittmeister (Russian: штабс-ротмистр), a senior officer rank in the Russian cavalry. Promoted to colonel in 1917, he was also awarded the Order of St. George, 4th class, among other decorations, in course of the war.

## Russian Civil War and relocation to Manchuria

As Russia collapsed into internal conflict following the October Revolution, the 5th Kargopol Dragoon Regiment moved to Samara in January 1918. In August, Nechaev joined the anti- Bolshevik People's Army of Komuch as commander of the 1st Kazan Cavalry Volunteer Regiment, and became leader of the Kazan Dragoon Regiment in September. Serving as part of Vladimir Kappel 's White army (nicknamed kappelevtsy), he was eventually appointed head of the Volga Cavalry Brigade in January 1919, and led this unit during several battles of the Eastern Front of the Russian Civil War. He fought at Ufa, Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk, Tobolsk, and Petropavlovsk. The war increasingly turned against the anti-Communist White movement, however, and Kappel's army was forced to retreat into Transbaikal during the Great Siberian Ice March. Though Nechaev survived the retreat, the White army suffered heavy casualties, among them Kappel who died of frostbite and pneumonia.

Nechaev subsequently joined Ataman Grigory Mikhaylovich Semyonov 's White army in Transbaikal. Commanding one division and a cavalry brigade in Semyonov's army, Nechaev served as major general and was promoted to lieutenant general in April 1920. By July 1921, Nechaev and 300 of his followers were possibly fighting in Mongolia alongside the army of Roman von Ungern-Sternberg. He retired from the army in 1921, and went into exile in China, settling down in the Manchurian city of Harbin. There, he joined a White Russian monarchist alliance. Meanwhile, the last White regime in Russia, the Provisional Priamurye Government, collapsed in 1922, and the Russian Far East was occupied by the Red Army. Thousands of White Russian soldiers subsequently fled from Vladivostok to China rather than surrender to the Communists. The White ex-soldiers often kept their military equipment, and even took their armoured trains with them to China.

At the time, the Republic of China was engulfed by civil war and factional violence. Its central government in Beijing had become largely powerless, while warlords controlled much of the country and fought each other for supremacy. One of the most powerful Chinese warlords was Zhang Zuolin, leader of the Fengtian clique and de facto ruler of Manchuria, where many of the White Russian ex-soldiers had settled down. Zhang considered these Russians to be veterans who were experienced in modern warfare, and consequently decided to recruit them into his armed forces. He ordered one of his Russian assistants, Colonel Chekhov, to mobilize a foreign legion in Mukden in 1924. In turn, Chekov contacted Nechaev and asked him to raise a unit in Harbin.

## Mercenary service in China

### Operations of the foreign legion 1924–1926

Nechaev accepted, and recruited about 150 White Russians as mercenaries for Zhang's army, organizing them into two companies and leading them to Shanhaiguan District in August 1924. Mercenary service was attractive for White émigrés due to the fact that many of them had problems finding stable employment, and the warlords at least offered a regular income. Nechaev was popular among his troops, and his unit was quickly expanded, counting about 700 White Russians by the start of the Second Zhili–Fengtian War. In this conflict against Wu Peifu 's Zhili clique, the Russians fought as part of the Fengtian foreign legion which also included 300 Japanese mercenaries and two Chinese companies. Nechaev commanded both the White Russians as well as the Chinese, while the Japanese operated under their own leaders. The foreign legion also included several armoured trains that the White Russians had brought with them from Russia. Nechaev and his troops fought as part of General Jin's First Army during the Second Zhili–Fengtian War. In course of these operations, Nechaev and several other White Russian mercenaries were featured in the propaganda film Modern Warfare in China 1924–1925 which was produced by the Soviet Union. As the Soviet government was opportunistically supporting the anti- Left Fengtian clique at the time, the White Russian general and his fellow anti-communist soldiers were portrayed favorably and sympathetically by the film's director, a Red Army colonel named Grinevskii. The "honeymoon between Zhang and the Soviets (...) was brief in the extreme", however, and had already ended by mid-1925. The Soviet government instead increased its support for forces opposed to Zhang, such as warlord Feng Yuxiang and the Kuomintang in southern China.

Following the Fengtian clique's victory over the Zhili forces in November 1924, Nechaev led his mercenary force to Jinan, where he was placed under the command of Zhang Zongchang, the ruler of Shandong and a subordinate of Zhang Zuolin. Zhang Zongchang served as Nechaev's direct superior for the following years, and allowed the Russian lieutenant general to operate largely autonomous. Nechaev selected several veteran White Russian officers for his staff, and some Chinese officers as interpreters. Nechaev and his troops next took part in an expedition to conquer Shanghai from warlord Qi Xieyuan for the Fengtian clique. By this time, the foreign legion already counted 800 officers, and 2,000 regular soldiers who had previously fought in the armies of Semyonov and Alexander Kolchak, and four armoured trains. The Russians fought with distinction at Wuxi and in the conquest of Shanghai in January 1925, and then again when Sun Chuanfang, Qi Xieyuan's superior, attempted to retake Shanghai soon after. As his forces were overextended, however, Zhang Zuolin had to withdraw from Shanghai in February. Following the retreat, Nechaev suffered a major defeat, when he and one armoured train under his command were trapped near Suizhou. Their Chinese adversaries had pulled up the rail, and took this opportunity to massacre almost all mercenaries on board the train. Nechaev managed to survive the incident, but lost a part of his leg during the bitter fighting. Overall, the Russians earned a reputation as extremely capable fighting force, becoming "Zhang Zongchang's crack troops", but were also feared due to their high indiscipline and extreme brutality against civilians and prisoners of war. In November 1925, Leon Trotsky mentioned Nechaev in a speech to the Kislovodsk Soviet, claiming that he and his troops were paid by Great Britain to support Chinese monarchism.

Despite his severe wound, Nechaev returned to duty in 1926, and came to directly command the 65th Infantry Division, consisting of one Chinese and one Russian brigade. The latter was about 3,765 men strong, and was nicknamed the "Nechaev Brigade" or "Nechaev Detachement". He also remained the de facto commander of all Russian troops in the Fengtian foreign legion, who counted about 5,270 overall by this point. In early 1926 during the Anti-Fengtian War, Nechaev commanded one of his armoured trains in a battle against another armoured train in service of Feng Yuxiang. He managed to defeat Feng's train, which had been built by Soviet advisors. Due to the increasing Soviet support for several enemies of the Fengtian clique in the late 1920s, Nechaev and the White Russians under his leadership increasingly perceived their mercenary service as "continuation of the holy war against Bolshevism".

### Northern Expedition and end of the foreign legion

Later in 1926, Nechaev led three of his armoured trains on a rampage through the Chinese countryside, "machine-gunning civilians and stealing everything moveable". In an attempt to stop the White Russians, locals pulled up the railways, but this only resulted in Nechaev's forces sacking the nearest town. Soon after, the 65th Infantry Division suffered heavy casualties in another armed conflict with Sun Chuanfang, so that "only several hundred" Russians were left in the unit by 1927, when war erupted between the Fengtian clique and the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang. Reduced in manpower, Nechaev and his forces mostly contributed to the Fengtian clique's resistance against the NRA's Northern Expedition by using their remaining armoured trains. In March 1927, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched an armed uprising in Shanghai against the local warlord garrison of Zhang Zongchang and Sun Chuanfang, who had allied himself with the Fengtian clique to resist the NRA. Nechaev's troops were among the 3,000 defenders of Shanghai's Zhabei district, and were only ousted from the city after heavy fighting with the CCP insurgents and NRA reinforcements.

The war increasingly turned against the warlords, and the White Russians as well as their Chinese allies were steadily driven north by the NRA. Following Zhang Zuolin's death in June 1928, his son Zhang Xueliang, the "Young Marshal", took over leadership of the Fengtian clique. He wanted to make peace with the NRA, and eventually fell out with Zhang Zongchang over this issue. Nechaev's men still had at least three armoured trains under their control at the time, and initially assisted Zhang Zongchang in invading Manchuria to topple Xueliang. After crossing the Luan River, however, Zhang Zongchang was trapped by the now-allied troops of the NRA and the "Young Marshal"; realizing that the position of their superior was lost, the White Russians defected and turned the guns of their trains on their former allies. Zhang Zongchang was defeated, and the White Russian mercenaries were mostly demobilized thereafter.

## Later years in Manchuria and execution

Following the Fengtian foreign legion's end, Nechaev returned to Manchuria to retire, living in Dalian. Nevertheless, there were rumours in early 1929 that Nechaev had assisted Zhang Zongchang during a rebellion to retake Shandong. Though these rumours were not confirmed, historian Philip S. Jowett considered it plausible that Nechaev had helped his old superior. In any case, the uprising failed. In late 1929, conflict erupted between the Chinese Nationalist government and the Soviet Union. The Chinese promptly rearmed the White Russians living in Manchuria to assist them against the Red Army; Soviet authorities believed that Nechaev was among the commanders of the White Russian troops fighting with the Chinese Northeastern Army. One account of the conflict stated that the White Russian detachment under Nechaev's command continued to raid Soviet territory even after hostilities had officially ceased, and also falsely claimed that he was killed in clashes with Soviet border guards in January 1930.

Following the Sino-Soviet conflict, the Soviet authorities demanded that all White Russians had to be dismissed from both the Northeastern Army and the Chinese Eastern Railway, while their leaders, among them Nechaev, were to be expelled from Manchuria. Nechaev consequently fully retired from military service, but remained in Manchuria, where he became head of two White émigré community organizations: The "Russian National Community" in 1930, and later the "Bureau of Russian Emigrants in Manchuria". He continued to live in Manchuria after the Japanese invasion of 1931, and the establishment of Manchukuo. The Soviet Union invaded Manchukuo in 1945, and arrested numerous White Russians living there. Nechaev was among those captured by SMERSH and sent to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Tried by before the 6th Guards Tank Army 's military tribunal, he was sentenced to death in November 1945, and subsequently executed by hanging in Chita in 1946. He was rehabilitated by the Transbaikal Military District in April 1992.


Lee Ann Womack discography

# Lee Ann Womack discography

## Abstract

American country music artist Lee Ann Womack has released nine studio albums, three compilation albums, one extended play, 30 singles, 20 music videos, and appeared on 43 albums. Womack's self-titled debut album was released in May 1997 on Decca Nashville Records. It peaked at number nine on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and number 106 on the Billboard 200, certifying platinum from the Recording Industry Association of America. It featured the hit singles " Never Again, Again ", " The Fool ", and " You've Got to Talk to Me ". Her gold-certifying second album Some Things I Know (1998) reached number 20 on the country albums chart, spawning the hits " A Little Past Little Rock " and " I'll Think of a Reason Later ".

Womack's third studio album I Hope You Dance (2000) topped the Top Country Albums chart, reached number 16 on the Billboard 200, and certified triple platinum. The lead single brought her the biggest success of her career. It topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, crossed over to number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, and became a minor hit internationally. Her fourth studio record Something Worth Leaving Behind (2002) failed to match the commercial success of I Hope You Dance. A holiday album and greatest hits record appeared before the hit single, " I May Hate Myself in the Morning ", and its accompanying There's More Where That Came From (2005). The album reached number 3 on the country chart and number 12 on the Billboard 200. Call Me Crazy (2008) debuted at number four on the Top Country Albums list and featured the top 20 hit " Last Call ". Her eighth studio album The Way I'm Livin' (2014) reached peak positions on both the country albums and Independent Albums charts.

## Albums

## Singles

## Music videos


Intelligent Network

# Intelligent Network

## Abstract

The Intelligent Network (IN) is the standard network architecture specified in the ITU-T Q.1200 series recommendations. It is intended for fixed as well as mobile telecom networks. It allows operators to differentiate themselves by providing value-added services in addition to the standard telecom services such as PSTN, ISDN on fixed networks, and GSM services on mobile phones or other mobile devices.

The intelligence is provided by network nodes on the service layer, distinct from the switching layer of the core network, as opposed to solutions based on intelligence in the core switches or equipment. The IN nodes are typically owned by telecommunications service providers such as a telephone company or mobile phone operator.

IN is supported by the Signaling System #7 (SS7) protocol between network switching centers and other network nodes owned by network operators.

## Examples of IN services

- Televoting

- Call screening

- Local number portability

- Toll-free calls /Freephone

- Prepaid calling

- Account card calling

- Virtual private networks (such as family group calling)

- Centrex service (Virtual PBX)

- Private-number plans (with numbers remaining unpublished in directories)

- Universal Personal Telecommunications service (a universal personal telephone number)

- Mass-calling service

- Prefix free dialing from cellphones abroad

- Seamless MMS message access from abroad

- Reverse charging

- Home Area Discount

- Premium Rate calls

- Call distribution based on various criteria associated with the call Location-based routing Time-based routing Proportional call distribution (such as between two or more call centres or offices)

- Location-based routing

- Time-based routing

- Proportional call distribution (such as between two or more call centres or offices)

- Call queueing

- Call transfer

## History and key concepts

The IN concepts, architecture and protocols were originally developed as standards by the ITU-T which is the standardization committee of the International Telecommunication Union; prior to this a number of telecommunications providers had proprietary implementations. The primary aim of the IN was to enhance the core telephony services offered by traditional telecommunications networks, which usually amounted to making and receiving voice calls, sometimes with call divert. This core would then provide a basis upon which operators could build services in addition to those already present on a standard telephone exchange.

A complete description of the IN emerged in a set of ITU-T standards named Q.1210 to Q.1219, or Capability Set One (CS-1) as they became known. The standards defined a complete architecture including the architectural view, state machines, physical implementation and protocols. They were universally embraced by telecom suppliers and operators, although many variants were derived for use in different parts of the world (see Variants below).

Following the success of CS-1, further enhancements followed in the form of CS-2. Although the standards were completed, they were not as widely implemented as CS-1, partly because of the increasing power of the variants, but also partly because they addressed issues which pushed traditional telephone exchanges to their limits.

The major driver behind the development of the IN was the need for a more flexible way of adding sophisticated services to the existing network. Before the IN was developed, all new features and/or services had to be implemented directly in the core switch systems. This made for long release cycles as the software testing had to be extensive and thorough to prevent the network from failing. With the advent of the IN, most of these services (such as toll-free numbers and geographical number portability) were moved out of the core switch systems and into self-contained nodes, creating a modular and more secure network that allowed the service providers themselves to develop variations and value-added services to their networks without submitting a request to the core switch manufacturer and waiting for the long development process. The initial use of IN technology was for number translation services, e.g. when translating toll-free numbers to regular PSTN numbers; much more complex services have since been built on the IN, such as Custom Local Area Signaling Services (CLASS) and prepaid telephone calls.

## SS7 architecture

The main concepts (functional view) surrounding IN services or architecture are connected with SS7 architecture:

- Service Switching Function (SSF) or Service Switching Point (SSP) is co-located with the telephone exchange, and acts as the trigger point for further services to be invoked during a call. The SSP implements the Basic Call State Machine (BCSM) which is a Finite state machine that represents an abstract view of a call from beginning to end (off hook, dialing, answer, no answer, busy, hang up, etc.). As each state is traversed, the exchange encounters Detection Points (DPs) at which the SSP may invoke a query to the SCP to wait for further instructions on how to proceed. This query is usually called a trigger. Trigger criteria are defined by the operator and might include the subscriber calling number or the dialed number. The SSF is responsible for controlling calls requiring value added services.

- Service Control Function (SCF) or Service Control Point (SCP) is a separate set of platforms that receive queries from the SSP. The SCP contains service logic which implements the behaviour desired by the operator, i.e., the services. During service logic processing, additional data required to process the call may be obtained from the SDF. The logic on the SCP is created using the SCE.

- Service Data Function (SDF) or Service Data Point (SDP) is a database that contains additional subscriber data, or other data required to process a call. For example, the subscriber's remaining prepaid credit may be stored in the SDF to be queried in real-time during the call. The SDF may be a separate platform or co-located with the SCP.

- Service Management Function (SMF) or Service Management Point (SMP) is a platform or cluster of platforms that operators use to monitor and manage the IN services. It contains the management database which stores the services' configuration, collects the statistics and alarms, and stores the Call Data Reports and Event Data Reports.

- Service Creation Environment (SCE) is the development environment used to create the services present on the SCP. Although the standards permit any type of environment, it is fairly rare to see low level languages like C used. Instead, proprietary graphical languages are used to enable telecom engineers to create services directly. The languages are usually of the fourth-generation type, and the engineer may use a graphical interface to build or change a service.

- Specialized Resource Function (SRF) or Intelligent Peripheral (IP) is a node which can connect to both the SSP and the SCP and deliver special resources into the call, mostly related to voice communication, for example to play voice announcements or collect DTMF tones from the user.

## Protocols

The core elements described above use standard protocols to communicate with each other. The use of standard protocols allows different manufacturers to concentrate on different parts of the architecture and be confident that they will all work together in any combination.

The interfaces between the SSP and the SCP are SS7 based and have similarities with TCP/IP protocols. The SS7 protocols implement much of the OSI seven-layer model. This means that the IN standards only had to define the application layer, which is called the Intelligent Networks Application Part or INAP. The INAP messages are encoded using ASN.1.

The interface between the SCP and the SDP is defined in the standards to be an X.500 Directory Access Protocol or DAP. A more lightweight interface called LDAP has emerged from the IETF which is considerably simpler to implement, so many SCPs have implemented that instead.

## Variants

The core CS-1 specifications were adopted and extended by other standards bodies. European flavours were developed by ETSI, American flavours were developed by ANSI, and Japanese variants also exist. The main reasons for producing variants in each region was to ensure interoperability between equipment manufactured and deployed locally (for example different versions of the underlying SS7 protocols exist between the regions).

New functionality was also added which meant that variants diverged from each other and the main ITU-T standard. The biggest variant was called Customised Applications for Mobile networks Enhanced Logic, or CAMEL for short. This allowed for extensions to be made for the mobile phone environment, and allowed mobile phone operators to offer the same IN services to subscribers while they are roaming as they receive in the home network.

CAMEL has become a major standard in its own right and is currently maintained by 3GPP. The last major release of the standard was CAMEL phase 4. It is the only IN standard currently being actively worked on.

Bellcore (subsequently Telcordia Technologies) developed the Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) as the variant of Intelligent Network for North America, and performed the standardization of the AIN on behalf of the major US operators. The original goal of AIN was AIN 1.0, which was specified in the early 1990s (AIN Release 1, Bellcore SR-NWT-002247, 1993). AIN 1.0 proved technically infeasible to implement, which led to the definition of simplified AIN 0.1 and AIN 0.2 specifications. In North America, Telcordia SR-3511 (originally known as TA-1129+) and GR-1129-CORE protocols serve to link switches with the IN systems such as Service Control Points (SCPs) or Service Nodes. SR-3511 details a TCP/IP-based protocol which directly connects the SCP and Service Node. GR-1129-CORE provides generic requirements for an ISDN-based protocol which connects the SCP to the Service Node via the SSP.

## Future

While activity in development of IN standards has declined in recent years, there are many systems deployed across the world which use this technology. The architecture has proved to be not only stable, but also a continuing source of revenue with new services added all the time. Manufacturers continue to support the equipment and obsolescence is not an issue.

Nevertheless, new technologies and architectures have emerged, especially in the area of VoIP and SIP. More attention is being paid to the use of APIs in preference to protocols like INAP, and new standards have emerged in the form of JAIN and Parlay. From a technical viewpoint, the SCE began to move away from its proprietary graphical origins towards a Java application server environment.

The meaning of "intelligent network" is evolving in time, largely driven by breakthroughs in computation and algorithms. From networks enhanced by more flexible algorithms and more advanced protocols, to networks designed using data-driven models to AI enabled networks.


Douglas Carter Beane

# Douglas Carter Beane

## Abstract

Douglas Carter Beane is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has been nominated for five Tony Awards and won two Drama Desk Awards. His plays are essentially works with sophisticated, "drawing room" humor but just as often farce, particularly his work in musical theater.

His works include the screenplay of To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, and several plays including The Country Club and The Little Dog Laughed, which was nominated for the 2007 Tony Award for Best Play and As Bees in Honey Drown, which ran at New York's Lucille Lortel Theatre in 1997.

## Early life

Beane was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and raised in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania.

Beane trained as an actor, graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts New York campus in 1980. He is very involved with his alma mater, workshopping new pieces with the students.

Beane is the artistic director of the Drama Department Theater Company in New York.

## Career

Beane wrote the book for Xanadu, a stage musical adaptation of the 1980 film of the same name, adding new plot twists and humor parodying the original movie. The musical was workshopped in 2006 and early 2007 with director Christopher Ashley and actors Jane Krakowski, Tony Roberts, and Cheyenne Jackson. The musical opened on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre on July 10, 2007. Kerry Butler and Cheyenne Jackson were the Broadway leads. Beane won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical.

In 2011, Beane was hired to "doctor" the book for the musical Sister Act alongside Bill and Cheri Steinkellner for which he was nominated for a Tony Award, Best Book of a Musical.

Beane wrote the book for the musical Lysistrata Jones and rewrote the book for a new adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella which opened on Broadway in 2013. Also opening in 2013 was his new play for Lincoln Center, The Nance, starring Nathan Lane and directed by Jack O'Brien. Beane has revised the libretto for the Metropolitan Opera 's new production of the operetta Die Fledermaus which was performed in 2013- 2014.

Beane's 2013 play The Nance was a change of pace, essentially a drama set in the 1930's starring Nathan Lane as Chauncey Miles, a fading vaudeville comic specializing in nance characters, effeminate, mocking parodies of homosexual men. Miles is in fact gay and filled with self-hate and bitterness yet gets a chance at true love for the first time late in his life. Most reviews were favorable although much of the praise was directed at Lane's performance. The play was filmed by PBS and aired on Live from Lincoln Center the following year.

Beane's play "The Closet" premiered in 2018 at the Williamstown Theatre Festival for a limited two-week run starting June 30th. The play starred Matthew Broderick as a widely disliked heterosexual nerd working at a religious supplies company who suddenly becomes interesting and popular when his co-workers and family presume he is having an affair with his new roommate, a flamboyant homosexual (played by Brooks Ashmanskas). The farce received generally good reviews and was compared to Norman, Is That You?.

## Personal life

Beane is married to his frequent collaborator, composer Lewis Flinn, and the two are parents to two adopted children, Cooper and Gabrielle.

## Awards and nominations

- 2013 Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards - Favorite New Play - The Nance

- 2013 Outer Critics Circle Awards - Outstanding New Broadway Play - The Nance

- 2013 Tony Awards - Best Book of a Musical - Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella

- 2012 Drama Desk Awards - Outstanding Book of a Musical - Lysistrata Jones

- 2012 Tony Awards - Best Book of a Musical - Lysistrata Jones

- 2011 Tony Awards - Best Book of a Musical - Sister Act

- 2008 Tony Awards - 2008 - Best Book of a Musical - Xanadu

- 2007 Drama Desk Award - Outstanding Book of a Musical - Xanadu - won

- 2007 Tony Awards - Best Play - The Little Dog Laughed

- 1999 Drama Desk Awards - Outstanding Play - As Bees in Honey Drown - won

- 1998 Outer Critics Circle Awards - John Gassner Playwriting Award = As Bees in Honey Drown - won

- 1997 Drama Desk Awards - Outstanding Orchestrations - As Bees in Honey Drown

## Selected works

### Broadway

- 2013 The Nance

- 2013 Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella

- 2011 Lysistrata Jones

- 2011 Sister Act

- 2007 Xanadu

- 2006 The Little Dog Laughed

### Off-Broadway

- 2019 The Big Time - Book by Beane, Music and Lyrics by Douglas J. Cohen

- 2015 Shows for Days

- 2010 Mr. & Mrs. Fitch

- 2006 The Little Dog Laughed

- 2001 Music from a Sparkling Planet

- 1999 The Country Club

- 1997 As Bees In Honey Drown

- 1996 Advice From a Caterpillar

### Film

- 1995 To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar


Armenia–Portugal relations

# Armenia–Portugal relations

## Abstract

Foreign relations exist between Armenia and Portugal. Neither country has a resident ambassador. Armenia is represented in Portugal through its embassy in Rome (Italy). Portugal is represented in Armenia through its embassy in Moscow. In addition Portugal is represented in Armenia through its honorary consulate on Nalbandyan street in Yerevan. The consul is Mr. Samuel Samuelyan.

Portugal, formally recognized the independence of the Democratic Republic of Armenia on 10 August 1920 "and entered into a solemn compact not only to respect, but to preserve as against external aggression, the territorial integrity and political independence of Armenia..." Both nations are members of the Council of Europe and the OSCE.

## Political and economic relations

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan visited Lisbon in November 2000 and met with Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio, and Foreign Minister Jaime Gama. On 10 July 2001, President Robert Kocharyan said that Armenia attached major importance to the development of relations with Portugal. Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan met a Portuguese delegation, on 11 July 2001, with a view to improving bilateral economic relations. The Speaker of the Portuguese parliament, João Bosco Mota Amaral, discussed on 19 June 2002, with the Armenian ambassador, the development and strengthening of Armenian-Portuguese interparliamentary relations.

## Armenian genocide recognition

Portugal recognized the Armenian genocide in 2019.

## Resident diplomatic missions

- Armenia is accredited to Portugal from its embassy in Rome, Italy.

- Portugal is accredited to Armenia from its embassy in Moscow, Russia and an honorary consulate in Yerevan.