title: Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

text: "Arena Ultimax" was designed to neatly conclude the narrative of "Arena". Based on feedback, the storyline was trimmed down to flow better, allowing for a higher narrative volumn while communicating more story overall. Similar to earlier "Persona 3" cast inclusions, the new "Persona 3" characters were given redesigns reflecting their personal evolution leading up to the events of "Arena Ultimax". For Yukari's outfit, Soejima drew from the costume designs of "Phoenix Sentai Featherman", a fictional tokusatsu show that had a long history within the series. Junpei's baseball attire was one of many suggested concepts for his character, ranging from a guitarist to a formal suit related to his Shadow Operatives work. Ken's appearance as a high schooler was simple design, while his fighting style balanced with Koromaru was hard to finalize. The online lobby avatars used the chibi-style character models from "", which was then in production at Atlus.


title: Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

text: Discussing the gameplay, Fukumoto noted that much of their work went into rebalancing existing fighters based on feedback from "Arena", flattening power levels to be fair rather than doing simple strength reductions. They also sought to properly balance new characters and make them engaging to play, which was particularly important with the range-based Yukari. Rise's inclusion was pleasing for Iguchiya, as he had wanted her as a playable character in the original "Arena". Due to her support role and idol status in the series canon, her moveset was based around range and song-based magic. Atlus created the "battle design" for her Persona with these elements in mind. Minazuki was a notable character due to his lack of a Persona, with the team building his fighting style around his two personalities similar to the twin incarnations of Labrys in the original. Adachi had been a highly requested character for "Arena", but for story reasons was unable to appear, so the development team had to put some thought into explaining his appearance in "Arena Ultimax". Each character's Persona abilities were tailored to them based on fighting style and balance. Shadow characters built upon the twin Labrys characters from the original, while also being designed as similar to traditional fighting games. The fighting styles of Marie and Margaret were directly based on their storyline abilities, such as Margaret having access to multiple Persona types.


title: Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

text: The music was composed by Atlus Sound Team member Atsushi Kitajoh, with oversight by series composer Shoji Meguro. The soundtrack used both original tracks and recycled tracks by Meguro from "Persona 3" and "Persona 4". The opening theme "Break out of..." was performed by singer Shihoko Hirata and rapper Lotus Juice, both returning from "Persona 4". The ending theme "Today" was performed by "Persona 3" singer Yumi Kawamura. All tracks were composed by Kitajoh aside from a remix of "The Battle for Everyone's Souls", created by Meguro.


title: Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

text: The arcade version of "Arena Ultimax" was announced in September 2013 under its Japanese title "Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold". It released for Taito Type X2 arcade models on November 28, 2013, with Atlus publishing the title's opening movie online the following day. The PlayStation 3 (PS3) port was announced in November alongside the mainline entry "Persona 5", and fellow spin-off titles "" and "". Mastering of the console release was finished by June 2014, with production then focusing on DLC characters. It released as a PS3 exclusive on August 28, 2014. The arcade version was updated with characters from the initial console release in January 2015.


title: Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

text: Its Western release for PS3 and Xbox 360, along with those of "Persona Q" and "Dancing All Night" were announced in February 2014. In North America, the title was published by Atlus USA. It was released on September 30, 2014. In Europe, it was published on November 21 by Sega. Following the release of each version, it was supported with DLC, including the characters Adachi and his associated storyline, Margaret and Marie.


title: Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

text: On December 9, 2021, a port of the game was announced for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Windows at The Game Awards 2021, which was released on March 17, 2022. The port includes all previously released downloadable content, and the gameplay is based on the arcade version's last update. All iterations of the new port launched with online play using delay-based netcode similar to the previous versions of the game. However, the Steam and PlayStation 4 versions received support for rollback netcode via a patch released on August 5, 2022. The game's lobby mode was excluded from the Steam and Nintendo Switch versions in a similar fashion to its omission from the Xbox 360 port of the original release, only being made available as a feature in the PS4 version of the remaster. Additionally, the Steam version of the game released alongside a "Midnight Channel Collection" bundle that collects both "Arena Ultimax" and the PC version of "Persona 4 Golden". The standalone game is also available at a discount to owners of the latter game on Steam.


title: Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

text: A manga adaptation of the game was announced on February 25, 2015, via "Persona Official Magazine" issue #2015 February. It will premier in "Dengeki Maoh" magazine in spring 2015, and will be illustrated by manga artist Rokuro Saito.


title: Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

text: "Persona 4 Arena Ultimax" was adapted into a live stage play titled "Persona 4 Ultimax Song Project" and ran from July 6 to July 10, 2016, at Theater G Rosso. The play was written by Mio Inoue and directed by Shotaro Oku, featuring music by Meguro and Atsushi Kitajoh. The play was released on DVD on November 25, 2016.


title: Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

text: Tohru Adachi and his moveset from this game were converted for use in "", a cross-over with the "BlazBlue" franchise and various other franchises developed by "Arc System Works". Various other characters movesets also borrow minor elements from their appearances in this game, though they are primarily based on their respective versions from the original Persona 4 Arena.


title: Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

text: "Persona 4 Arena Ultimax" received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.


title: Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

text: "IGN" complimented the changes to the fighting system, graphics, rebalanced characters, and declared that there was "even more nuance for intermediate and advanced players" and that "Ultimax" was "100% the sequel that "Persona 4 Arena" deserved." "Hardcore Gamer" gave the game a 4/5, saying, "In terms of fighting mechanics, "Persona 4 Arena Ultimax" doesn't go leaps and bounds past its predecessor, but allows for growth that helps strengthen the experience." Ben Moore at "GameTrailers" stated that "practically everything new in "Ultimax" is outstanding and the core it's built on is just as robust and exhilarating as it was two years ago." "Slant Magazine" wrote that "Ultimax" "not only refines (and sometimes rebalances) the gameplay from "Persona 4 Arena", but vastly expands it" and that the Shadow versions of the characters add "new layers without upsetting or unbalancing any of the foundational gameplay." The balance was also praised by "Eurogamer.es". "PlayStation Official Magazine – Australia" said that "There's not even the slightest whiff of cash-in here. Greatly expanded and built upon." "Play" summarized the game as, "The combat remains some of the best and most intricate Arc System Works has composed to date."


title: Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

text: The game sold a total of 89,000 units in Japan during its first week of release, topping charts. By May 2015, the game had sold 280,000 units worldwide.


title: Sianoa Smit-McPhee

text: Sianoa Smit-McPhee is an Australian actress. She is best known for her years in Australian soap opera "Neighbours" as Bree Timmins.


title: Sianoa Smit-McPhee

text: Sianoa Smit-McPhee was born in South Australia. She showed an interest in performing at a very young age, inspired by her father, actor and former professional wrestler Andy McPhee. She was singing, dancing, acting, and modelling by the age of three. When she was seven, she moved to Melbourne with her parents and her younger brother, actor Kodi Smit-McPhee.


title: Sianoa Smit-McPhee

text: Smit-McPhee played Bree Timmins in the long-running Australian TV series "Neighbours" from 2005 to 2007.


title: Sianoa Smit-McPhee

text: Her next role was in the children's television series "As the Bell Rings", which aired on the Disney Channel. In 2007, she appeared as Desma, the lead character in the short fantasy film "Hugo". From 2009 to 2011, she starred in the HBO series "Hung" as Darby Drecker.


title: Sianoa Smit-McPhee

text: In 2012, Smit-McPhee featured in the TV movie American Broadcasting Company's "Firelight" and the series "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". The following year, she starred in "All Cheerleaders Die". Smit-McPhee and her husband John Rush, a music producer, also wrote and produced the song “Take a Bite of My Heart”, which was featured in the film and performed by her.


title: Bizarrap

text: Gonzalo Julián Conde (born August 29, 1998), known professionally as Bizarrap, is an Argentine record producer and DJ. He specializes in EDM, Latin trap and rap. He is known for his Bzrp Music Sessions, which he records with a wide variety of artists. He was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award for Best Producer in 2021.


title: Bizarrap

text: Gonzalo was born on 29 August 1998 in Ramos Mejía, Argentina. He was interested in music from a young age, and had an interest in electronic music and DJs, rather than singing. His main influences were Skrillex, David Guetta, and Martin Garrix. At the age of 14 he began studying music theory, enrolled in piano classes, and began to produce his first songs.


title: Bizarrap

text: His career started in 2017 with the "Combos Locos" that he put together with highlights from local freestyle battles. That environment led him to become friends with figures like Lit Killah, Kodigo, Ecko, with whom he began remixing in parallel. His first hit came from Duki and the BZRP version of "No Vendo Trap". From there, other artists opened their doors for him to remix their songs, including Dani, Ecko, Paulo Londra and Khea. The first Freestyle Session was released on 17 November 2018 and starred Kodigo. Little by little, other referents such as Sony and Acru joined in, and by the following February the Music Sessions arrived with Bhavi as inaugurator.


title: Bizarrap

text: In December 2020, Bizarrap became the most listened-to Argentine artist and producer in the world with more than 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify, entering the 300 most listened to artists in the world.


title: Vijaya Gadde

text: Vijaya Gadde (born 1974) is an American attorney, who served as general counsel and the head of legal, policy, and trust at Twitter. Her role included handling issues such as harassment, misinformation, and harmful speech. She is known for her involvement in decisions and policies taken by Twitter, such as the approach taken to issues such as harassment and harmful speech, and high-profile decisions made by Twitter. On October 27, she was fired by Elon Musk, following his acquisition of Twitter.


title: Vijaya Gadde

text: In 2014, she was described by "Fortune" as the most powerful woman on Twitter's executive team, though she was later joined by Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Berland. In October 2020, "Politico" profiled her as "the most powerful technology executive you've never heard of".


title: Vijaya Gadde

text: Gadde was born in India to a Telugu family and moved to the United States at age three. Her father pursued graduate studies in the United States and initially did not have the financial means to send for his wife and daughter until Gadde turned three. Her family moved to Beaumont, Texas.


title: Vijaya Gadde

text: Gadde received a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial and labor relations from the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations and a Juris Doctor from the New York University School of Law in 2000.


title: Vijaya Gadde

text: Before joining Twitter in 2011, Gadde spent nearly a decade working at the Silicon Valley law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. She was also senior director in the legal department of Silicon Valley technology firm Juniper Networks. While at WSGR, Gadde worked on the 2006 $4.1 billion McClatchy Co.-Knight Ridder Inc. acquisition and acted as counsel to the New York Stock Exchange’s Proxy Working Group and Committee on Corporate Governance.


title: Vijaya Gadde

text: In 2018 she announced Twitter's hiring of researchers to study the health of discourse on the platform.


title: Vijaya Gadde

text: In 2018, Gadde joined Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for meetings in India where they talked with several Dalit activists about their experiences on Twitter; after the meeting, the activists gave Dorsey a sign reading "Smash Brahminical Patriarchy," which he was later photographed holding. The photograph attracted controversy, with some critics calling the sentiment discriminatory against Brahmins while others deemed it an appropriate response to caste- and gender-based oppression in India. Gadde responded to the social media furor with an apology in a series of tweets, "I'm very sorry for this. It's not reflective of our views. We took a private photo with a gift just given to us - we should have been more thoughtful. Twitter strives to be an impartial platform for all. We failed to do that here & we must do better to serve our customers in India."


title: Vijaya Gadde

text: In 2019 she convinced then-CEO Jack Dorsey not to sell political advertisements during the 2020 United States presidential election, a high profile move which received both praise and criticism.


title: Vijaya Gadde

text: She was one of the key officials at Twitter involved in decisions to suspend the account of former American President Donald Trump.


title: Vijaya Gadde

text: Gadde earned nearly $17 million in 2021 as Twitter's chief legal officer, and earned roughly $7.3 million in 2020.


title: Vijaya Gadde

text: Following the announcement of the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk in 2022, Gadde received renewed attention. Musk contested the existing policies of Twitter, saying the platform should only remove content if required by the law, and criticized Gadde for the decision to block a "New York Post" story about Hunter Biden. It was reported that Gadde expressed concerns and talked about significant uncertainties about the future of Twitter under the potential leadership of Musk during a virtual meeting with the policy and legal teams. Musk's criticism of Gadde generated some controversy due to online abuse that Gadde subsequently received, including racist slurs, and speculation that Musk's criticism may have violated the terms of the takeover agreement, which prohibited Musk from posting disparaging tweets regarding the company or its representatives.


title: Vijaya Gadde

text: Musk's comments echoed some other criticism of Gadde, especially from the political right, who have accused her of being Twitter's "top censorship advocate”, for her role in suspending former U.S. President Donald Trump's Twitter account. It also follows criticism of the decision by Twitter, which Gadde was involved in, to prevent users from sharing a "New York Post" story regarding Hunter Biden's laptop during the 2020 U.S. election where his father Joe Biden was a candidate. Jack Dorsey later characterized the decision as a mistake. Gadde has been defended by others, including by former colleagues and law professor Danielle Citron, who said that Gadde understood the impact of online harassment.


title: Vijaya Gadde

text: As Twitter's Chief Legal Officer, Elon Musk's letter to terminate the purchase of Twitter on July 8, 2022, was addressed to her. She was fired after completion of the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk on October 27, 2022, alongside at least three other Twitter executives, including the CEO.


title: Orders, decorations, and medals of Nazi Germany

text: Awards and decorations of Nazi Germany were military, political and civilian decorations that were bestowed between 1923 and 1945, first by the Nazi Party and later the state of Nazi Germany.


text: The first awards began in the 1920s, before the Nazis had come to national power in Germany, with the political decorations worn on Party uniforms, along with any awards they may have earned during the First World War or before.


text: After 1933, the state began issuing a variety of civilian decorations, which could be bestowed upon any citizen of Germany. Thus, some awards (such as Sports Badges) were bestowed on Nazi Party members, members of the German military, and regular civilians. Many standard awards of the German state, such as life-saving medals, were redesigned to incorporate the Nazi symbol, the swastika.


text: A number of military awards were established pre-war, including Wehrmacht long service decorations, followed by awards for participation in the Spanish Civil War and for the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland, with the greatest number established after the start of World War II in 1939. Regulations of award also permitted the simultaneous wear of military, civilian, and political decorations on any military or para-military uniform of Nazi Germany.


text: Nazi awards and decorations were discontinued after the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, with display of the swastika banned. In 1957 the Federal Republic of Germany permitted qualifying veterans to wear many Nazi-era awards in Bundeswehr uniform. including most World War II valor and campaign awards, provided the swastika symbol was removed. This led to the re-design of many awards with, for example, the swastika being replaced by a three-leafed oakleaf cluster on the Iron Cross and by the date "1939" on the War Merit Cross. In addition, new military awards were created for post war service by both the West German and East German governments.


text: These awards were bestowed by the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS between 1939 and 1945, during World War II.


text: The Luftwaffe maintained two non-portable awards, the "Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe" () and the "Luftwaffe Honor Plate" (). Recipients of both awards automatically received the Luftwaffe Honour Roll Clasp in January 1944.


title: Hydroxycarbamide

text: Hydroxycarbamide, also known as hydroxyurea, is a medication used in sickle-cell disease, essential thrombocythemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia, polycythemia vera, and cervical cancer. In sickle-cell disease it increases fetal hemoglobin and decreases the number of attacks. It is taken by mouth.


title: Hydroxycarbamide

text: Common side effects include bone marrow suppression, fevers, loss of appetite, psychiatric problems, shortness of breath, and headaches. There is also concern that it increases the risk of later cancers. Use during pregnancy is typically harmful to the baby. Hydroxycarbamide is in the antineoplastic family of medications. It is believed to work by blocking the making of DNA.


title: Hydroxycarbamide

text: Hydroxycarbamide was approved for medical use in the United States in 1967. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Hydroxycarbamide is available as a generic medication.


title: Hydroxycarbamide

text: Reported side effects are: neurological reactions (e.g., headache, dizziness, drowsiness, disorientation, hallucinations, and convulsions), nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, mucositis, anorexia, stomatitis, bone marrow toxicity (dose-limiting toxicity; may take 7–21 days to recover after the drug has been discontinued), megaloblastic anemia, thrombocytopenia, bleeding, hemorrhage, gastrointestinal ulceration and perforation, immunosuppression, leukopenia, alopecia (hair loss), skin rashes (e.g., maculopapular rash), erythema, pruritus, vesication or irritation of the skin and mucous membranes, pulmonary edema, abnormal liver enzymes, creatinine and blood urea nitrogen.


title: Hydroxycarbamide

text: Due to its negative effect on the bone marrow, regular monitoring of the full blood count is vital, as well as early response to possible infections. In addition, renal function, uric acid and electrolytes, as well as liver enzymes, are commonly checked. Moreover, because of this, its use in people with leukopenia, thrombocytopenia or severe anemia is contraindicated.


title: Hydroxycarbamide

text: Hydroxycarbamide has been used primarily for the treatment of myeloproliferative diseases, which has an inherent risk of transforming to acute myeloid leukemia. There has been a longstanding concern that hydroxycarbamide itself carries a leukemia risk, but large studies have shown that the risk is either absent or very small. Nevertheless, it has been a barrier for its wider use in patients with sickle-cell disease.


title: Hydroxycarbamide

text: Hydroxycarbamide decreases the production of deoxyribonucleotides via inhibition of the enzyme ribonucleotide reductase by scavenging tyrosyl free radicals as they are involved in the reduction of nucleoside diphosphates (NDPs).


title: Hydroxycarbamide

text: In the treatment of sickle-cell disease, hydroxycarbamide increases the concentration of fetal hemoglobin. The precise mechanism of action is not yet clear, but it appears that hydroxycarbamide increases nitric oxide levels, causing soluble guanylyl cyclase activation with a resultant rise in cyclic GMP, and the activation of gamma globin gene expression and subsequent gamma chain synthesis necessary for fetal hemoglobin (HbF) production (which does not polymerize and deform red blood cells like the mutated HbS, responsible for sickle cell disease). Adult red cells containing more than 1% HbF are termed F cells. These cells are progeny of a small pool of immature committed erythroid precursors (BFU-e) that retain the ability to produce HbF. Hydroxyurea also suppresses the production of granulocytes in the bone marrow which has a mild immunosuppressive effect particularly at vascular sites where sickle cells have occluded blood flow.


title: Hydroxycarbamide

text: Hydroxyurea has been reported as endogenous in human blood plasma at concentrations of approximately 30 to 200 ng/ml.


title: Hydroxycarbamide

text: Hydroxyurea has been prepared in many different ways since its initial synthesis in 1869. Medical chemists, Dresler and Stein created Hydroxyurea from hydroxylamine, hydrochloric acid and potassium cyanide as a technical exercise in organic chemistry, as part of a series of experiments generating derivatives of urea. Hydroxyurea lay dormant for more than fifty years until it was studied as part of an investigation into the toxicity of protein metabolites. Due to its chemical properties hydroxyurea was explored as an antisickling agent in the treatment of hematological conditions.


title: Hydroxycarbamide

text: One common mechanism for synthesizing hydroxyurea is by the reaction of calcium cyanate with hydroxylamine nitrate in absolute ethanol and by the reaction of salt (i.e. sodium or potassium) cyanates and hydroxylamine hydrochloride in aqueous solution. Hydroxyurea has also been prepared by converting a quaternary ammonium anion exchange resin from the chloride form to the cyanate form with sodium cyanate and reacting the resin in the cyanate form with hydroxylamine hydrochloride. This method of hydroxyurea synthesis was patented by Hussain et al. (2015).


title: Hydroxycarbamide

text: Hydroxyurea is a monohydroxyl-substituted urea (hydroxycarbamate) antimetabolite. Similar to other antimetabolite anti-cancer drugs, it acts by disrupting the DNA replication process of dividing cancer cells in the body. Hydroxyurea selectively inhibits ribonucleoside diphosphate reductase, an enzyme required to convert ribonucleoside diphosphates into deoxyribonucleoside diphosphates, thereby preventing cells from leaving the G1/S phase of the cell cycle. This agent also exhibits radiosensitizing activity by maintaining cells in the radiation-sensitive G1 phase and interfering with DNA repair.


title: Hydroxycarbamide

text: Biochemical research has explored its role as a DNA replication inhibitor which causes deoxyribonucleotide depletion and results in DNA double strand breaks near replication forks (see DNA repair). Repair of DNA damaged by chemicals or irradiation is also inhibited by hydroxyurea, offering potential synergy between hydroxyurea and radiation or alkylating agents.


title: Hydroxycarbamide

text: Hydroxyurea has many pharmacological applications under the Medical Subject Headings classification system:


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: The Samsung Galaxy S4 is an Android smartphone produced by Samsung Electronics as the fourth smartphone of the Samsung Galaxy S series and was first shown publicly on March 14, 2013, at Samsung Mobile Unpacked in New York City. It is the successor to the Galaxy S III, which maintains a similar design, but with upgraded hardware, more sensors, and an increased focus on software features that take advantage of its hardware capabilities—such as the ability to detect when a finger is hovered over the screen, and expanded eye tracking functionality, it was released the previous year. A hardware variant of the S4 became the first smartphone to support the emerging LTE Advanced mobile network standard (model number "GT-i9506"). The T-Mobile version of the Galaxy S4, named the model (SGH-M919), was released the same month. The phone's successor, the Samsung Galaxy S5, was released the next year.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: The Galaxy S4 is among the earliest phones to feature a 1080p Full HD display, 1080p front camera video recording, and among few to feature temperature and humidity sensors and a touch screen able to detect a floating finger.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: The S4 was made available in late April 2013 on 327 carriers in 155 countries. It became Samsung's fastest selling smartphone and eventually Samsung's best selling smartphone with 20 million sold worldwide in the first two months, and 40 million in the first six months.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: In total, more than 80 million Galaxy S4 units have been sold, making it the most selling Android-powered mobile phone of all time.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: The Galaxy S4's successor, the Samsung Galaxy S5, was announced by Samsung in February 2014 ahead of a release in April of that year.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: The Samsung Galaxy S4 uses a refined version of the hardware design introduced by the Samsung Galaxy S III, with a rounded, polycarbonate chassis and a removable rear cover. It is slightly lighter and narrower than the Samsung Galaxy S III, with a length of , a width of , and a thickness of . At the bottom of the device is a microphone and a microUSB port for data connections and charging; it also supports USB-OTG and MHL 2.0. Near the top of the device are a front-facing camera, an infrared transmitter for usage as universal remote control, proximity, and ambient light sensors, and a notification LED. In particular, the infrared sensor is used for the device's "Air View" features. A headphone jack, secondary microphone and infrared blaster are located at the top. The S4 is widely available in black and white color finishes; in selected regions, Samsung also introduced versions in red, purple, pink, brown with gold trim, and light pink with gold trim. In late January 2014, Samsung's Russian website briefly listed a new black model with a plastic leather backing, similar to the Galaxy Note 3.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: The S4's "Super AMOLED" display with 1080×1920 pixels (1080p "Full HD") is larger than the 720×1280 display of its predecessor, and also features a PenTile RGBG matrix. The pixel density increased from 306 to 441 ppi, surfaced with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. An added "glove mode" option increases touch sensitivity to allow detecting touch input through gloves. The Galaxy S4 is Samsung's first and one of the earliest mobile phones of all time to feature a 1080p display.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: Unlike previous models, the S4 does not contain FM radio support, citing the increased use of online media outlets for content consumption on mobile devices.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: The camera of the Galaxy S4 uses a 13-megapixel Sony Exmor RS "IMX135" image sensor (4128×3096), later used on the Galaxy Note 3.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: While the front cameras of the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2, both released in 2012, are only able to capture videos at up to 720p HD resolution, the front camera of the Galaxy S4 allows 1080p Full HD video recording for the first time in any Samsung mobile phone.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: Like the Galaxy S3, the S4 is equipped with an accelerometer sensor, a gyroscope, a front-facing proximity sensor, digital compass and barometer.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: Unlike the predecessor, the S4 is also equipped with a hall sensor for the S View cover, a self-capacitive touch screen layer for Air View and thermometer and hygrometer sensors, the last two of which only the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3 out of all historical Samsung flagship devices are equipped with.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: Galaxy S4 models use one of two processors, depending on the region and network compatibility. The S4 version for North America, most of Europe, parts of Asia, and other countries contains Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600 system-on-chip, containing a quad-core 1.9 GHz Krait 300 CPU and an Adreno 320 GPU. The chip also contains a modem which supports LTE. Other models include Samsung's Exynos 5 Octa system-on-chip with a heterogeneous CPU. The octa-core CPU comprises a 1.6 GHz quad-core Cortex-A15 cluster and a 1.2 GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 cluster. The chip can dynamically switch between the two clusters of cores based on CPU usage; the chip switches to the A15 cores when more processing power is needed, and stays on the A7 cores to conserve energy on lighter loads. Only one of the clusters is used at any particular moment, and software sees the processor as a single quad-core CPU. The SoC also contains an IT tri-core PowerVR SGX 544 graphics processing unit (GPU). Regional models of the S4 vary in support for LTE; for Exynos 5-based models, while the E300K/L/S versions support LTE, with the Cortex-A15 also clocked at 1.6 GHz. the GT-I9500 model does not. The S4 GT-I9505 includes a multiband LTE transceiver.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: On 24 June 2013, a variant supporting LTE Advanced (model number GT-i9506), the first commercially available device to do so, was announced for South Korea.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: In December 2013, it was also shipped to Germany as "Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE+", but only with Telekom and Vodafone branding.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: It also was equipped with increased processing power by using the same CPU (Snapdragon 800) and GPU (Adreno 330) hardware as the Galaxy Note 3 "SM-N9005", although no precluded video recording capabilities beyond 1080p at 30fps.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: The S4 comes with either 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB of internal storage, which can be supplemented with up to an additional 64 GB with a microSD card slot. Unofficially, the S4 microSD card slot supports 128 GB cards as well. The S4 contains a 2600 mAh, NFC-enabled battery.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: The Galaxy S4 is known for introducing a range of new extended interaction features to the Samsung Galaxy S series.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: Head tracking features have been extended on the S4, summarized as ""Samsung SmartScreen"". The new ""Smart Scroll"" feature can be used to scroll while looking at the screen by slightly tilting head or phone forward or backward, and ""Smart Pause"" allows the video player to pause videos if the user is not looking at the screen. ""Smart Rotation"" tracks the facial orientation using the front camera to match the screen rotation and ""Smart Stay"" prevents entering stand-by mode by deactivating display time-out while the user is looking at it.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: There are additional motion gestures, including panning through and zooming into/out of an image in the precluded gallery software by tilting the phone and holding with one or two fingers respectively. To take a screenshot, alternatively to pressing the home button and power button simultaneously, a user can simply swipe their hand from one end of the screen to the other end horizontally.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: These interaction features were later inherited by the Galaxy Note 3 and the Galaxy S5, but most of those features were gradually removed from Samsung's flagship phones released afterwards.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: The camera app implements numerous new features (some of which were first seen on the Galaxy Camera), including an updated interface, and new modes such as "Drama" (which composes a moving element from multiple shots into a single photo), "Eraser" (which takes multiple shots and allows the user to remove unnecessary elements from a picture), "Dual Shot" (which uses the front-facing camera for a picture-in-picture effect), "Sound and Shot" (which allows the user to record a voice clip alongside a photo), "Animated Photo", and "Story Album" among others. Burst shots at full resolution are supported, but capped at twenty consecutive pictures at any selected resolution.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: In addition, the Galaxy S4 is able to capture 9.6 Megapixel (4128×2322) still photos during 1080p video recording, even with enabled digital video stabilization.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: While the camera viewfinder user interface of the 2012's Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2, the competing iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s require switching between photo and video modes, the viewfinder of the Galaxy S4 camera software shows the buttons for both photo and video capture simultaneously. The virtual buttons for video recording, photo capture and camera modes have a metallic texture.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: A "remote viewfinder" feature allows casting the camera viewfinder and controls to a different unit through Wi-Fi Direct.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: The "Group Play" feature allows ad hoc sharing of files between Galaxy phones, along with multiplayer games and music streaming between S4 phones. The S4 also introduces Knox in the Android 4.3 update, a suite of features which implements a sandbox for enterprise environments that can co-exist with a user's "personal" data. Knox incorporates use of the ARM TrustZone extensions and security enhancements to the Android platform.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: The TouchWiz keyboard application on the Galaxy S4 has a built-in clipboard feature that allows holding up to twenty items such as text and screenshots.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: The precluded optical reader feature allows the optical character recognition of pictures through the camera or a picture stored in the gallery. The optical reader is also accessible through a menu in the keyboard for direct pasting into a text area.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: Other new pre-loaded apps include WatchOn (an electronic program guide that can utilize the S4's infrared transmitter to be a remote control), S Translator, the workout tracker S Health, S Voice Drive, S Memo, TripAdvisor, and an optical character recognition app. The previous "Hub" apps from past Samsung devices were replaced by a single Samsung Hub app, with access to music, e-books, and games that can be purchased by users.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: A minor update was released in June 2013, restoring the ability to move apps to the SD card, and adding HDR video support among other tweaks.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: In November 2013, Samsung began rolling out an update to Android 4.3 for the S4, notably adding the Bluetooth low energy support needed for compatibility with the Galaxy Gear smartwatch. However, Samsung halted the rollout following reports from Galaxy S III users that Samsung's version of 4.3 had caused instability and increased battery usage. The rollout was resumed in December 2013.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: In February 2014, Samsung began rolling out an update to Android 4.4.2 "KitKat" for the S4; the update adds user interface tweaks such as a camera shortcut on the corner of the lock screen, options for setting default launcher and text messaging applications, support for printing, and a new location settings menu for tracking and controlling the use of location tracking by apps. It also makes significant changes to the handling of secondary storage on the device for security reasons; applications' access to the SD card is restricted to designated, app-specific directories only, while full access to internal primary storage is still allowed. Although this behavior has existed since Android 3.0 "Honeycomb", OEMs such as Samsung previously modified their distributions of Android to retain the previous behavior, allowing applications to have unlimited access to SD card contents.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: In January 2015, Samsung began rolling out an update to Android 5.0.1 "Lollipop" in Russia and India, an update which brings all the features of Lollipop, such as enhanced performance and lockscreen, including a refined interface with a flatter and geometric look, as seen on the Galaxy S5. Samsung paused the rollout soon after, when users reported major bugs. The rollout continued in March 2015 starting with unlocked models in the UK, Nordic and Baltic countries and has since then spread to several other countries. US (starting with AT&T and Sprint) and Canadian Samsung Galaxy S4 models received Android 5.0.1 Lollipop update in April 2015.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: Several different model variants of the S4 are sold, with most variants varying mainly in handling regional network types and bands. To prevent grey market reselling, models of the S4 manufactured after July 2013 implement a regional lockout system in certain regions, requiring that the first SIM card used on a European and North American model be from a carrier in that region. Samsung stated that the lock would be removed once a local SIM card is used. SIM format for all variants is Micro-SIM, which can have one or two depending on model.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: At the Google I/O 2013 keynote, Samsung and Google revealed that an edition of the U.S. S4 would be released on June 26, 2013 through Google Play, with the HTC One M7, Sony Xperia Z Ultra, Motorola Moto G, and HTC One M8 releasing later on. initially featuring stock Android 4.2.2, the phone later updated to 4.4.4, with Samsung provided updates; it has an unlockable bootloader (similar to Nexus devices) and supports LTE on AT&T and T-Mobile's networks. The model number is GT-I9505G.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: At retail, the S4 is bundled with a USB cable, AC adapter, and in-ear headphones. The "S-View Cover" accessory "closes" the phone. When this cover is detected (by a hall effect sensor), the time and battery are displayed in this cover's window area.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: While some users considered all new Galaxy S4 features innovative and legitimately useful, others called them feature creep or just gimmicks. Those features are, for example, "Smart Pause", "Smart Rotation", "Smart Scroll", "Air View", "Air gesture", "Story Album" and "Temperature and humidity sensors".


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: These features and sensors are available and optionally utilizable for users and software that needs them.Additionally, the Galaxy S4 is equipped with an "“easy mode”" that hides many features and increases the size of on-screen elements for easier readability for novice mobile phone users.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: The S4 received many positive reviews, though some criticism. Gigaom's Tofel says he would recommend the S4 "without hesitation" and says that it's "Samsung's defining phone". ReadWrite's Rowinski described the phone as a "solid" and "first-rate smartphone", but criticised Samsung's use of "bloatware, pre-loaded apps and features that you will likely never use". "TIME"'s McCraken says the S4 is a smartphone with everything; it has the biggest screen and the most built-in features. He wishes the S4 would mark the end of Samsung's plan to add too many new features with its flagship smartphones.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: Technology journalist Walt Mossberg described the S4 as "a good phone, just not a great one". Mossberg wrote: "while I admire some of its features, overall, it isn’t a game-changer." He criticized the software as "especially weak" and "often gimmicky, duplicative of standard Android apps, or, in some cases, only intermittently functional." He urged readers to "consider the more polished-looking, and quite capable, HTC One, rather than defaulting to the latest Samsung."


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: "Consumer Reports" named the S4 as the top smartphone as of May 2013 due to its screen quality, multitasking support, and built-in IR blaster.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: Critics noted that about half of the internal storage on the S4's 16 GB model was taken up by its system software, using 1 GB more than the S III and leaving only 8.5 to 9.15 GB for the storage of other data, including downloaded apps (some of which cannot be moved to the SD card). Samsung initially stated that the space was required for the S4's new features, but following a report regarding the issue on the BBC series "Watchdog", Samsung stated that it would review the possibility of optimising the S4's operating system to use less local drive space in a future update. Storage optimizations were brought in an update first released in June 2013, which frees 80 MB of internal storage and restores the ability to move apps to the device's microSD card.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: The S4 reached 10 million pre-orders from retailers in the first two weeks after its announcement. In the United States, this prompted Samsung to announce that due to larger than expected demand, the roll out of devices on U.S. carriers Sprint and T-Mobile would be slower than expected.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: The S4 sold 4 million in 4 days and 10 million in 27 days making it the then fastest selling smartphone in Samsung's history (this has been eclipsed by the Galaxy S5). The Galaxy S III sold 4 million units in 21 days, the Galaxy S II took 55 days and the Galaxy S took 85 days.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: Samsung shipped more than 20 million S4 smartphones by June 30, which is around 1.7 times faster than the Galaxy S III.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: A house in Hong Kong is alleged to have been set on fire by an S4 in July 2013, followed by a minor burnt S4 in Pakistan. A minor fire was also reported in Newbury, United Kingdom in October 2013. Some users of the phone have also reported swelling batteries and overheating; Samsung has offered affected customers new batteries free of charge.


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: On December 2, 2013, Canadian Richard Wygand uploaded a YouTube video describing his phone combusting. The phone was plugged into AC power overnight; he woke up to the smell of smoke and burning matter. In the video, the power cord was shown to be severely burnt and showed warped damage to the power plug. Later in the video, Wygand describes how he attempted to get a replacement:


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: In his second video, uploaded a few days after the first one, Wygand states that in order to receive a replacement phone, Samsung allegedly asked him to sign a legal document requiring him to remove the video, remain silent about the agreement, and surrender any future claims against the company. It is unknown whether or not he signed the document, but his frustrations had been expressed in his video. In an interview with Mashable, Wygand said that since he posted the second video, no further response from Samsung was received. However, an official spokesman from Samsung told Mashable, "Samsung takes the safety and security of our customers very seriously. Our Samsung Canada team is in touch with the customer, and is investigating the issue."


title: Samsung Galaxy S4

text: In the UK, companies which sold the S4 have varied in their reactions to claims by worried customers for replacement batteries under the Sale of Goods Act. Amazon, for example, have simply refunded part of the purchase price to allow for the cost of a replacement battery. O2 however insist that the complete phone, with the faulty battery, be returned to them so that they in turn can send it to Samsung to consider the claim.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Mari (Cuneiform: , "ma-ri", modern Tell Hariri; ) was an ancient Semitic city-state in modern-day Syria. Its remains form a tell 11 kilometers north-west of Abu Kamal on the Euphrates River western bank, some 120 kilometers southeast of Deir ez-Zor. It flourished as a trade center and hegemonic state between 2900 BC and 1759 BC. The city was purposely built in the middle of the Euphrates trade routes between Sumer in the south and the Eblaite kingdom and the Levant in the west.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Mari was first abandoned in the middle of the 26th century BC but was rebuilt and became the capital of a hegemonic East Semitic state before 2500 BC. This second Mari engaged in a long war with its rival Ebla and is known for its strong affinity with Sumerian culture. It was destroyed in the 23rd century BC by the Akkadians, who allowed the city to be rebuilt and appointed a military governor ("Shakkanakku"). The governors became independent with the disintegration of the Akkadian Empire, and rebuilt the city as a regional center of the Euphrates valley. The Shakkanakkus ruled Mari until the second half of the 19th century BC, when the dynasty collapsed for unknown reasons. A short time later, Mari became the capital of the Amorite Lim dynasty. The Amorite Mari lasted only a short time before it was destroyed by Babylonia in c. 1761 BC, but it survived as a small settlement under the rule of the Babylonians and the Assyrians before being abandoned and forgotten during the Hellenistic period.


title: Mari, Syria

text: The Mariotes worshiped both Semitic and Sumerian deities and established their city as a major trading center. Although the pre-Amorite periods were characterized by heavy Sumerian cultural influence, Mari was not a city of Sumerian immigrants but a Semitic-speaking nation with a dialect similar to Eblaite. The Amorites were West Semites who began to settle the area before the 21st century BC; by the Lim dynasty (c. 1830 BC), they became the dominant population in the Fertile Crescent.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Mari's discovery in 1933 provided an important insight into the geopolitical map of ancient Mesopotamia and Syria, due to the discovery of more than 25,000 tablets explicating the state administration in the 2nd millennium BC and the nature of diplomatic relations among the political powers of the region. They also revealed the wide trading networks of the 18th century BC, which connected areas as far as Afghanistan in Southern Asia and Crete in the Mediterranean.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Written in Cuneiform ("ma-ri"), the name of the city can be traced to Mer, an ancient storm deity of northern Mesopotamia and Syria, who was considered the patron deity of the city, Georges Dossin noted that the name of the city was spelled identically to that of the storm god and concluded that Mari was named after him.


title: Mari, Syria

text: It is believed that Mari did not grow from a small settlement, but was founded c. 2900 BC during the Mesopotamian Early Dynastic period I as a new city to control the waterways of the Euphrates trade routes connecting the Levant with the Sumerian south. The city was built about 1 to 2 kilometers from the Euphrates river to protect it from floods, and was connected to the river by an artificial canal 7 to 10 kilometers long whose route is hard to identify today.


title: Mari, Syria

text: The city is difficult to excavate as it is buried deep under later layers of habitation. A circular flood embankment was unearthed, containing an area 300 meters in length for gardens and craftsmen's quarters, and a defensive circular internal rampart 6.7 m thick and 8 to 10 meters high, strengthened by defensive towers. Other findings include one of the city gates, a street beginning at the center and ending at the gate, and residential houses. Mari had a central mound, but no temple or palace has been unearthed there. A large building was however excavated (with dimensions of 32 m x 25 m), seemingly with an administrative function. It had stone foundations and rooms up to 12 meters long and 6 meters wide. The city was abandoned c. 2550 BC at the end of the Early Dynastic period II, for unknown reasons.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Around the beginning of Early Dynastic period III (earlier than 2500 BC) Mari was rebuilt and populated again. The new city kept many of the first city's exterior features, including the internal rampart and gate. Also kept was the outer circular embankment measuring 1.9 km in diameter, which was topped by a wall two meters thick capable of protecting archers.


title: Mari, Syria

text: However, the internal urban structure was completely changed and the new city was carefully planned. First to be built were the streets that descended from the elevated center into the gates, ensuring the drainage of rain water.


title: Mari, Syria

text: At the heart of the city, a royal palace was built that also served as a temple. Four successive architectural levels from the second kingdom's palace have been unearthed (the oldest is designated "P3", while the latest is "P0"). The last two levels are dated to the Akkadian period. The first two levels were excavated; the findings include a temple (Enceinte Sacrée or Sacred Enclosure) dedicated to an unknown deity, a pillared throne room, and a hall with three double wood pillars leading to the temple.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Six smaller temples were discovered in the city, including the temple called the Massif Rouge (unknown dedication), and temples dedicated to Ninni-Zaza, Ishtarat, Ishtar, Ninhursag and Shamash. All the temples were located in the center of the city except for the Ishtar temple; the area between the Enceinte Sacrée and the Massif Rouge is considered to have been the administrative center of the high priest.


title: Mari, Syria

text: The second kingdom appears to have been a powerful and prosperous political center, its kings held the title of Lugal, and many are attested in the city, the most important source being the letter of king Enna-Dagan c. 2350 BC, which was sent to Irkab-Damu of Ebla. In it, the Mariote king mentions his predecessors and their military achievements. However, the reading of this letter is still uncertain and many interpretations have been presented by scholars.


title: Mari, Syria

text: The earliest attested king in the letter of Enna-Dagan is Ansud, who is mentioned as attacking Ebla, the traditional rival of Mari with whom it had a long war, and conquering many of Ebla's cities, including the land of Belan. The next king mentioned in the letter is Saʿumu, who conquered the lands of Ra'ak and Nirum. King Kun-Damu of Ebla defeated Mari in the middle of the 25th century BC. The war continued with Išhtup-Išar of Mari's conquest of Emar at a time of Eblaite weakness in the mid-24th century BC. King Igrish-Halam of Ebla had to pay tribute to Iblul-Il of Mari, who is mentioned in the letter, conquering many of Ebla's cities and campaigning in the Burman region.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Enna-Dagan also received tribute; his reign fell entirely within the reign of Irkab-Damu of Ebla, who managed to defeat Mari and end the tribute. Mari defeated Ebla's ally Nagar in year seven of the Eblaite vizier Ibrium's term, causing the blockage of trade routes between Ebla and southern Mesopotamia via upper Mesopotamia. The war reached a climax when the Eblaite vizier Ibbi-Sipish made an alliance with Nagar and Kish to defeat Mari in a battle near Terqa. Ebla itself suffered its first destruction a few years after Terqa in c. 2300 BC, during the reign of the Mariote king Hidar. According to Alfonso Archi, Hidar was succeeded by Ishqi-Mari whose royal seal was discovered. It depicts battle scenes, causing Archi to suggest that he was responsible for the destruction of Ebla while still a general.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Just a decade after Ebla's destruction (c. 2300 BC middle chronology), Mari itself was destroyed and burned by Sargon of Akkad, as shown by one of his year names (""Year in which Mari was destroyed""). Michael Astour proposed the date as c. 2265 BC (short chronology). Ishqi-Mari was probably the last king of Mari before the conquests by the Akkadian Empire. Sargon of Akkad collected tribute from Mari and Elam:


title: Mari, Syria

text: Mari was deserted for two generations before being restored by the Akkadian king Manishtushu. A governor was appointed to govern the city who held the title Shakkanakku (military governor). Akkad kept direct control over the city, which is evident by Naram-Sin of Akkad's appointment of two of his daughters to priestly offices in the city.


title: Mari, Syria

text: The first member of the Shakkanakku dynasty on the lists is Ididish, who was appointed in c. 2266 BC. According to the lists, Ididish ruled for 60 years and was succeeded by his son, making the position hereditary.


title: Mari, Syria

text: The third Mari followed the second city in terms of general structure, phase "P0" of the old royal palace was replaced by a new palace for the Shakkanakku. Another smaller palace was built in the eastern part of the city, and contained royal burials that date to the former periods. The ramparts were rebuilt and strengthened while the embankment was turned into a defensive wall that reached 10 meters in width. The former sacred inclosure was maintained, so was the temple of Ninhursag. However, the temples of Ninni-Zaza and Ishtarat disappeared, while a new temple called the "temple of lions" (dedicated to Dagan), was built by the Shakkanakku Ishtup-Ilum and attached to it, was a rectangular terrace that measured 40 x 20 meters for sacrifices.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Akkad disintegrated during Shar-Kali-Sharri's reign, and Mari gained its independence, but the use of the Shakkanakku title continued during the following Third Dynasty of Ur period. A princess of Mari married the son of king Ur-Nammu of Ur, and Mari was nominally under Ur hegemony. However, the vassalage did not impede the independence of Mari, and some Shakkanakkus used the royal title Lugal in their votive inscriptions, while using the title of Shakkanakku in their correspondence with the Ur's court. The dynasty ended for unknown reasons not long before the establishment of the next dynasty, which took place in the second half of the 19th century BC.


title: Mari, Syria

text: The second millennium BC in the Fertile Crescent was characterized by the expansion of the Amorites, which culminated with them dominating and ruling most of the region, including Mari which in c. 1830 BC, became the seat of the Amorite Lim dynasty under king Yaggid-Lim. However, the epigraphical and archaeological evidences showed a high degree of continuity between the Shakkanakku and the Amorite eras.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Yaggid-Lim was the ruler of Suprum before establishing himself in Mari, he entered an alliance with Ila-kabkabu of Ekallatum, but the relations between the two monarchs changed to an open war. The conflict ended with Ila-kabkabu capturing Yaggid-Lim's heir Yahdun-Lim and according to a tablet found in Mari, Yaggid-Lim who survived Ila-kabkabu was killed by his servants. However, in c. 1820 BC Yahdun-Lim was firmly in control as king of Mari.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Yahdun-Lim started his reign by subduing seven of his rebelling tribal leaders, and rebuilding the walls of Mari and Terqa in addition to building a new fort which he named Dur-Yahdun-Lim. He then expanded west and claimed to have reached the Mediterranean, however he later had to face a rebellion by the "Banu-Yamina" nomads who were centered at Tuttul, and the rebels were supported by Yamhad's king Sumu-Epuh, whose interests were threatened by the recently established alliance between Yahdun-Lim and Eshnunna. Yahdun-Lim defeated the Yamina but an open war with Yamhad was avoided, as the Mariote king became occupied by his rivalry with Shamshi-Adad I of Shubat-Enlil, the son of the late Ila-kabkabu. The war ended in a defeat for Mari, and Yahdun-Lim was assassinated in c. 1798 BC by his possible son Sumu-Yamam, who himself got assassinated two years after ascending the throne while Shamshi-Adad advanced and annexed Mari.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Shamshi-Adad appointed his son Yasmah-Adad on the throne of Mari, the new king married Yahdun-Lim's daughter, while the rest of the Lim family took refuge in Yamhad, and the annexation was officially justified by what Shamshi-Adad considered sinful acts on the side of the Lim family. To strengthen his position against his new enemy Yamhad, Shamshi-Adad married Yasmah-Adad to Betlum, the daughter of Ishi-Addu of Qatna. However, Yasmah-Adad neglected his bride causing a crisis with Qatna, and he proved to be an unable leader causing the rage of his father who died in c. 1776 BC, while the armies of Yarim-Lim I of Yamhad were advancing in support of Zimri-Lim, the heir of the Lim dynasty.


title: Mari, Syria

text: As Zimri-Lim advanced, a leader of the "Banu-Simaal" (Zimri-Lim's tribe) overthrew Yasmah-Adad, opening the road for Zimri-Lim who arrived a few months after Yasmah-Adad's escape, and married princess Shibtu the daughter of Yarim-Lim I a short time after his enthronement in c. 1776 BC. Zimri-Lim's ascension to the throne with the help of Yarim-Lim I affected Mari's status, Zimri-Lim referred to Yarim-Lim as his father, and the Yamhadite king was able to order Mari as the mediator between Yamhad's main deity Hadad and Zimri-Lim, who declared himself a servant of Hadad.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Zimri-Lim started his reign with a campaign against the "Banu-Yamina", he also established alliances with Eshnunna and Hammurabi of Babylon, and sent his armies to aid the Babylonians. The new king directed his expansion policy toward the north in the Upper Khabur region, which was named Idamaraz, where he subjugated the local petty kingdoms in the region such as Urkesh, and Talhayum, forcing them into vassalage. The expansion was met by the resistance of Qarni-Lim, the king of Andarig, whom Zimri-Lim defeated, securing the Mariote control over the region in c. 1771 BC, and the kingdom prospered as a trading center and entered a period of relative peace. Zimri-Lim's greatest heritage was the renovation of the Royal Palace, which was expanded greatly to contain 275 rooms, exquisite artifacts such as "The Goddess of the Vase" statue, and a royal archive that contained thousands of tablets.


title: Mari, Syria

text: The relations with Babylon worsened with a dispute over the city of Hīt that consumed much time in negotiations, during which a war against Elam involved both kingdoms in c. 1765 BC. Finally, the kingdom was invaded by Hammurabi who defeated Zimri-Lim in battle in c. 1761 BC and ended the Lim dynasty, while Terqa became the capital of a rump state named the Kingdom of Hana.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Mari survived the destruction and rebelled against Babylon in c. 1759 BC, causing Hammurabi to destroy the whole city. However, by an act of mercy Hammurabi allowed Mari to survive as a small village under Babylonian administration. Later, Mari became part of Assyria and was listed among the territories conquered by the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I (reigned 1243–1207 BC). Afterward, Mari constantly changed hands between Assyria and Babylon.


title: Mari, Syria

text: In the middle of the eleventh century BC, Mari became part of Hana whose king Tukulti-Mer took the title "king of Mari" and rebelled against Assyria, causing the Assyrian king Ashur-bel-kala to attack the city. Mari came firmly under the authority of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and was assigned in the first half of the 8th century BC to a certain Nergal-Erish to govern under the authority of king Adad-Nirari III (reigned 810–783 BC). In c. 760 BC, Shamash-Risha-Usur, an autonomous governor ruling parts of the upper middle Euphrates under the nominal authority of Ashur-dan III, styled himself the governor of the lands of Suhu and Mari, so did his son Ninurta-Kudurri-Usur. However, by that time, Mari was known to be located in the so-called Land of Laqe, making it unlikely that the Usur family actually controlled it, and suggesting that the title was employed out of historical reasons. The city continued as a small settlement until the Hellenistic period before disappearing from records.


title: Mari, Syria

text: By 2015, ISIS devasted and looted systematically the site and specially the royal palace. It was one of the first archaeological sites to be occupied by this group.


title: Mari, Syria

text: The founders of the first city may have been Sumerians or more probably East Semitic speaking people from Terqa in the north. I. J. Gelb relates Mari's foundation with the Kish civilization, which was a cultural entity of East Semitic speaking populations, that stretched from the center of Mesopotamia to Ebla in the western Levant.


title: Mari, Syria

text: At its height, the second city was the home of about 40,000 people. This population was East-Semitic speaking one, and used a dialect much similar to the language of Ebla (the Eblaite language), while the Shakkanakku period had an East-Semitic Akkadian speaking population. West Semitic names started to be attested in Mari since the second kingdom era, and by the middle Bronze-Age, the west Semitic Amorite tribes became the majority of the pastoral groups in the middle Euphrates and Khabur valleys. Amorite names started to be observed in the city toward the end of the Shakkanakku period, even among the ruling dynasty members.


title: Mari, Syria

text: During the Lim era, the population became predominantly Amorite but also included Akkadian named people, and although the Amorite language became the dominant tongue, Akkadian remained the language of writing. The pastoral Amorites in Mari were called the "Haneans", a term that indicate nomads in general, those Haneans were split into the "Banu-Yamina" (sons of the right) and "Banu-Simaal" (sons of the left), with the ruling house belonging to the "Banu-Simaal" branch. The kingdom was also a home to tribes of Suteans who lived in the district of Terqa.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Mari was an absolute monarchy, with the king controlling every aspect of the administration, helped by the scribes who played the role of administrators. During the Lim era, Mari was divided into four provinces in addition to the capital, the provincial seats were located at Terqa, Saggaratum, Qattunan and Tuttul. Each province had its own bureaucracy, the government supplied the villagers with ploughs and agricultural equipments, in return for a share in the harvest.


title: Mari, Syria

text: The first and second kingdoms were heavily influenced by the Sumerian south. The society was led by an urban oligarchy, and the citizens were well known for elaborate hair styles and dress. The calendar was based on a solar year divided into twelve months, and was the same calendar used in Ebla "the old Eblaite calendar". Scribes wrote in Sumerian language and the art was indistinguishable from Sumerian art, so was the architectural style.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Mesopotamian influence continued to affect Mari's culture during the Amorite period, which is evident in the Babylonian scribal style used in the city. However, it was less influential than the former periods and a distinct Syrian style prevailed, which is noticeable in the seals of kings, which reflect a clear Syrian origin. The society was a tribal one, it consisted mostly of farmers and nomads (Haneans), and in contrast to Mesopotamia, the temple had a minor role in everyday life as the power was mostly invested in the palace. Women enjoyed a relative equality to men, queen Shibtu ruled in her husband's name while he was away, and had an extensive administrative role and authority over her husband's highest officials.


title: Mari, Syria

text: The Pantheon included both Sumerian and Semitic deities, and throughout most of its history, Dagan was Mari's head of the Pantheon, while Mer was the patron deity. Other deities included the Semitic deities; Ishtar the goddess of fertility, Athtar, and Shamash, the Sun god who was regarded among the city most important deities, and believed to be all-knowing and all-seeing. Sumerian deities included Ninhursag, Dumuzi, Enki, Anu, and Enlil. Prophecy had an important role for the society, temples included prophets, who gave council to the king and participated in the religious festivals.


title: Mari, Syria

text: The first Mari provided the oldest wheel workshop yet discovered in Syria, and was a center of bronze metallurgy. The city also contained districts devoted to smelting, dyeing and pottery manufacture, using charcoal brought by river boats from the upper Khabur and Euphrates area.


title: Mari, Syria

text: The second kingdom's economy was based on both agriculture and trade. It was centralized and directed through a communal organization, with grain stored in communal granaries and distributed according to social status. The organization also controlled the animal herds in the kingdom. Some groups were direct beneficiaries of the palace instead of the communal organization, including the metal and textile producers and military officials. Ebla was an important trading partner and rival, Mari's position made it an important trading center astride the road linking the Levant and Mesopotamia.


title: Mari, Syria

text: The Amorite Mari maintained the older aspects of the economy, still largely based on irrigated agriculture along the Euphrates valley. The city remained a trading center for merchants from Babylonia and other kingdoms, with goods from the south and east transported on riverboats bound for the north, northwest and west. The main trade was metals and tin from the Iranian Plateau exported west as far as Crete. Other goods included copper from Cyprus, silver from Anatolia, wood from Lebanon, gold from Egypt, olive oil, wine, and textiles, and even precious stones from modern Afghanistan.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Mari was discovered in 1933, on the eastern flank of Syria, near the Iraqi border. A Bedouin tribe was digging through a mound called Tell Hariri for a gravestone that would be used for a recently deceased tribesman, when they came across a headless statue. After the news reached the French authorities currently in control of Syria, the report was investigated, and digging on the site was started on December 14, 1933 by archaeologists from the Louvre in Paris. The location of the fragment was excavated, revealing the temple of Ishtar, which led to the commencing of the full scale excavations. Mari was classified by the archaeologists as the "most westerly outpost of Sumerian culture".


title: Mari, Syria

text: Since the beginning of excavations, over 25,000 clay tablets in Akkadian language written in cuneiform were discovered. Finds from the excavation are on display in the Louvre, the National Museum of Aleppo, the National Museum of Damascus, and the Deir ez-Zor Museum. In the latter, the southern façade of the "Court of the Palms" room from Zimri-Lim's palace has been reconstructed, including the wall paintings.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Mari has been excavated in annual campaigns in 1933–1939, 1951–1956, and since 1960. André Parrot conducted the first 21 seasons up to 1974, and was followed by Jean-Claude Margueron (1979–2004), and Pascal Butterlin (starting in 2005). A journal devoted to the site, released in 8 volumes between 1982 and 1997, was "Mari: Annales de recherches interdisciplinaires". Archaeologists have tried to determine how many layers the site descends, according to French archaeologist André Parrot, "each time a vertical probe was commenced in order to trace the site's history down to virgin soil, such important discoveries were made that horizontal digging had to be resumed."


title: Mari, Syria

text: Over 25,000 tablets were found in the burnt library of Zimri-Lim written in Akkadian from a period of 50 years between circa 1800 – 1750 BC. They give information about the kingdom, its customs, and the names of people who lived during that time. More than 3000 are letters, the remainder includes administrative, economic, and judicial texts. Almost all the tablets found were dated to the last 50 years of Mari's independence, and most have now been published. The language of the texts is official Akkadian, but proper names and hints in syntax show that the common language of Mari's inhabitants was Northwest Semitic. Six of the tablets found were in the Hurrian language.


title: Mari, Syria

text: Excavations stopped from 2011 as a result of the Syrian Civil War and have not restarted. The site came under the control of armed gangs and suffered large scale looting. A 2014 official report revealed that robbers were focusing on the royal palace, the public baths, the temple of Ishtar and the temple of Dagan. Based on satelite imagery, looting continued until at least 2017.


title: Shoulder

text: The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder make up the shoulder joints. The shoulder joint, also known as the glenohumeral joint, is the major joint of the shoulder, but can more broadly include the acromioclavicular joint. In human anatomy, the shoulder joint comprises the part of the body where the humerus attaches to the scapula, and the head sits in the glenoid cavity. The shoulder is the group of structures in the region of the joint.


title: Shoulder

text: The shoulder joint is the main joint of the shoulder. It is a ball and socket joint that allows the arm to rotate in a circular fashion or to hinge out and up away from the body. The joint capsule is a soft tissue envelope that encircles the glenohumeral joint and attaches to the scapula, humerus, and head of the biceps. It is lined by a thin, smooth synovial membrane. The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that surround the shoulder joint and contribute to the shoulder's stability. The muscles of the rotator cuff are supraspinatus, subscapularis, infraspinatus, and teres minor. The cuff adheres to the glenohumeral capsule and attaches to the humeral head.


title: Shoulder

text: The shoulder must be mobile enough for the wide range actions of the arms and hands, but stable enough to allow for actions such as lifting, pushing, and pulling.


title: Shoulder

text: The shoulder consists of a ball-and-socket joint formed by the humerus and scapula and their surrounding structures - ligaments, muscles, tendons - which support the bones and maintain the relationship of one to another. These supporting structures attach to the clavicle, humerus, and scapula, the latter providing the glenoid cavity, acromion and coracoid processes. The main joint of the shoulder is the shoulder joint (or glenohumeral joint), between the humerus and the glenoid process of the scapular. The acromioclavicular joint and sternoclavicular joint also play a role in shoulder movements. White hyaline cartilage on the ends of the bones (called articular cartilage) allows the bones to glide and move on each other, and the joint space is surrounded by a synovial membrane. Around the joint space are muscles - the rotator cuff, which directly surrounds and attaches to the shoulder joint - and other muscles that help provide stability and facilitate movement.


title: Shoulder

text: Two filmy sac-like structures called bursae permit smooth gliding between bone, muscle, and tendon. They cushion and protect the rotator cuff from the bony arch of the acromion.


title: Shoulder

text: The glenoid labrum is the second kind of cartilage in the shoulder which is distinctly different from the articular cartilage. This cartilage is more fibrous or rigid than the cartilage on the ends of the ball and socket. Also, this cartilage is also found only around the socket where it is attached.


title: Shoulder

text: The shoulder joint (also known as the glenohumeral joint) is the main joint of the shoulder. It is a ball and socket joint that allows the arm to rotate in a circular fashion or to hinge out and up away from the body. It is formed by the articulation between the head of the humerus and the lateral scapula (specifically-the glenoid cavity of the scapula). The "ball" of the joint is the rounded, medial anterior surface of the humerus and the "socket" is formed by the glenoid cavity, the dish-shaped portion of the lateral scapula. The shallowness of the cavity and relatively loose connections between the shoulder and the rest of the body allows the arm to have tremendous mobility, at the expense of being much easier to dislocate than most other joints in the body. There is an approximately 4-to-1 disproportion in size between the large head of the humerus and the shallow glenoid cavity.The glenoid cavity is made deeper by the addition of the fibrocartilaginous ring of the glenoid labrum.


title: Shoulder

text: The capsule is a soft tissue envelope that encircles the glenohumeral joint and attaches to the scapula, humerus, and head of the biceps. It is lined by a thin, smooth synovial membrane. This capsule is strengthened by the coracohumeral ligament which attaches the coracoid process of the scapula to the greater tubercle of the humerus. There are also three other ligaments attaching the lesser tubercle of the humerus to lateral scapula and are collectively called the glenohumeral ligaments.


title: Shoulder

text: The transverse humeral ligament, which passes from the lesser tubercle to the greater tubercle of humerus, covers the intertubercular groove, in which the long head of biceps brachii travels.


title: Shoulder

text: The rotator cuff is an anatomical term given to the group of four muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the shoulder. These muscles are the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor and subscapularis and that hold the head of the humerus in the glenoid cavity during movement. The cuff adheres to the glenohumeral capsule and attaches to the head of the humerus. Together, these keep the humeral head in the glenoid cavity, preventing upward migration of the humeral head caused by the pull of the deltoid muscle at the beginning of arm elevation. The infraspinatus and the teres minor, along with the anterior fibers of the deltoid muscle, are responsible for external rotation of the arm.


title: Shoulder

text: The four tendons of these muscles converge to form the rotator cuff tendon. This tendon, along with the articular capsule, the coracohumeral ligament, and the glenohumeral ligament complex, blend into a confluent sheet before insertion into the humeral tuberosities. The infraspinatus and teres minor fuse near their musculotendinous junctions, while the supraspinatus and subscapularis tendons join as a sheath that surrounds the biceps tendon at the entrance of the bicipital groove.


title: Shoulder

text: In addition to the four muscles of the rotator cuff, the deltoid muscle and teres major muscles arise and exist in the shoulder region itself. The deltoid muscle covers the shoulder joint on three sides, arising from the front upper third of the clavicle, the acromion, and the spine of the scapula, and travelling to insert on the deltoid tubercle of the humerus. Contraction of each part of the deltoid assists in different movements of the shoulder - flexion (clavicular part), abduction (middle part) and extension (scapular part). The teres major attaches to the outer part of the back of the scapula, beneath the teres minor, and attaches to the upper part of the humerus. It helps with medial rotation of the humerus.


title: Shoulder

text: The armpit () is formed by the space between the muscles of the shoulder. The nerves and blood vessels of the arm travel through the armpit, and it possesses several sets of lymph nodes that are able to be examined. The armpit is formed by the pectoralis major and minor muscles at the front, the latissimus dorsi and teres major muscles at the back, the serratus anterior muscle on its inner surface, and the intertubercular groove of the humerus on the outer side.


title: Shoulder

text: The skin around the shoulder is supplied by C2-C4 (upper), and C7 and T2 (lower area). The brachial plexus emerges as nerve roots from the cervical vertebrae C5-T1. Branches of the plexus, in particular from C5-C6, supply the majority of the muscles of the shoulder.


title: Shoulder

text: The subclavian artery arises from the brachiocephalic trunk on the right and directly from the aorta from the left. This becomes the axillary artery as it passes beyond the first rib. The axillary artery also supplies blood to the arm, and is one of the major sources of blood to the shoulder region. The other major sources are the transverse cervical artery and the suprascapular artery, both branches of the thyrocervical trunk which itself is a branch of the subclavian artery. The blood vessels form a network (anastamosis) behind the shoulder that helps to supply blood to the arm even when the axillary artery is compromised.


title: Shoulder

text: The muscles and joints of the shoulder allow it to move through a remarkable range of motion, making it one of the most mobile joints in the human body. The shoulder can abduct, adduct, rotate, be raised in front of and behind the torso and move through a full 360° in the sagittal plane. This tremendous range of motion also makes the shoulder extremely unstable, far more prone to dislocation and injury than other joints


title: Shoulder

text: Under the influence of testosterone and growth hormone, the shoulders broaden in males during puberty.


title: Shoulder

text: The shoulder is the most mobile and potentially unstable joint in the body. Due to this, it is often prone to problems.


title: Shoulder

text: Fractures of shoulder bones can include clavicular fractures, scapular fractures, and fractures of the upper humerus.


title: Shoulder

text: Shoulder problems, including pain, are common and can relate to any of the structures within the shoulder. The primary cause of shoulder pain is a rotator cuff tear. The supraspinatus is most commonly involved in a rotator cuff tear.


title: Shoulder

text: When this type of cartilage starts to wear out (a process called arthritis), the joint becomes painful and stiff.


title: Shoulder

text: Imaging of the shoulder includes ultrasound, X-ray and MRI, and is guided by the suspected diagnosis and presenting symptoms.


title: Shoulder

text: Conventional x-rays and ultrasonography are the primary tools used to confirm a diagnosis of injuries sustained to the rotator cuff. For extended clinical questions, imaging through Magnetic Resonance with or without intraarticular contrast agent is indicated.


title: Shoulder

text: Hodler et al. recommend starting scanning with conventional x-rays taken from at least two planes, since this method gives a wide first impression and even has the chance of exposing any frequent shoulder pathologies, i.e., decompensated rotator cuff tears, tendinitis calcarea, dislocations, fractures, usures, and/or osteophytes. Furthermore, x-rays are required for the planning of an optimal CT or MR image.


title: Shoulder

text: The conventional invasive arthrography is nowadays being replaced by the non-invasive MRI and ultrasound, and is used as an imaging reserve for patients who are contraindicated for MRI, for example pacemaker-carriers with an unclear and unsure ultrasonography.


title: Shoulder

text: The body has to be rotated about 30 to 45 degrees towards the shoulder to be imaged, and the standing or sitting patient lets the arm hang. This method reveals the joint gap and the vertical alignment towards the socket.


title: Shoulder

text: The lateral contour of the shoulder should be positioned in front of the film in a way that the longitudinal axis of the scapula continues parallel to the path of the rays. This method reveals:


title: Shoulder

text: This projection has a low tolerance for errors and, accordingly, needs proper execution. The Y-projection can be traced back to Wijnblath’s 1933 published cavitas-en-face projection.


title: Shoulder

text: There are several advantages of ultrasound. It is relatively cheap, does not emit any radiation, is accessible, is capable of visualizing tissue function in real time, and allows the performance of provocative maneuvers in order to replicate the patient’s pain. Those benefits have helped ultrasound become a common initial choice for assessing tendons and soft tissues. Limitations include, for example, the high degree of operator dependence and the inability to define pathologies in bones. One also has to have an extensive anatomical knowledge of the examined region and keep an open mind to normal variations and artifacts created during the scan.


title: Shoulder

text: Although musculoskeletal ultrasound training, like medical training in general, is a lifelong process, Kissin "et al." suggests that rheumatologists who taught themselves how to manipulate ultrasound can use it just as well as international musculo-skeletal ultrasound experts to diagnose common rheumatic conditions.


title: Shoulder

text: After the introduction of high-frequency transducers in the mid-1980s, ultrasound has become a conventional tool for taking accurate and precise images of the shoulder to support diagnosis.


title: Shoulder

text: Adequate for the examination are high-resolution, high-frequency transducers with a transmission frequency of 5, 7.5, and 10 MHz. To improve the focus on structures close to the skin an additional "water start-up length" is advisable. During the examination the patient is asked to be seated, the affected arm is then adducted and the elbow is bent to 90 degrees. Slow and cautious passive lateral and/or medial rotations have the effect of being able to visualize different sections of the shoulder. In order to also demonstrate those parts which are hidden under the acromion in the neutral position, a maximum medial rotation with hyperextension behind the back is required.


title: Shoulder

text: To avoid the different tendon echogenicities caused by different instrument settings, Middleton compared the tendon’s echogenicity with that of the deltoid muscle, which is still lege artis.


title: Shoulder

text: Usually the echogenicity compared to the deltoid muscle is homogeneous intensified without dorsal echo extinction. Variability with reduced or intensified echo has also been found in healthy tendons. Bilateral comparison is very helpful when distinguishing and setting boundaries between physiological variants and a possible pathological finding. Degenerative changes at the rotator cuff often are found on both sides of the body. Consequently, unilateral differences rather point to a pathological source and bilateral changes rather to a physiological variation.


title: Shoulder

text: In addition, a dynamic examination can help to differentiate between an ultrasound artifact and a real pathology.


title: Shoulder

text: To accurately evaluate the echogenicity of an ultrasound, one has to take into account the physical laws of reflection, absorption and dispersion. It is at all times important to acknowledge that the structures in the joint of the shoulder are not aligned in the transversal, coronal or sagittal plane, and that therefore during imaging of the shoulder the transducer head has to be held perpendicularly or parallel to the structures of interest. Otherwise the appearing echogenicity may not be evaluated.


title: Shoulder

text: Orthopedics established the MRI early on as the tool of choice for joint- and soft tissue-imaging because of its non-invasiveness, lack of radiation exposure, multi planar slicing possibilities and the high soft tissue contrast.


title: Shoulder

text: MRIs can provide joint details to the treating orthopedist, helping them to diagnose and decide the next appropriate therapeutic step.


title: Shoulder

text: To examine the shoulder, the patient should lay down with the concerned arm is in lateral rotation. For signal detection it is recommended to use a surface-coil. To find pathologies of the rotator cuff in the basic diagnostic investigation, T2-weighted sequences with fat-suppression or STIR sequences have proven value. In general, the examination should occur in the following three main planes: axial, oblique coronal and sagittal.


title: Shoulder

text: Most morphological changes and injuries are sustained to the supraspinatus tendon. Traumatic rotator cuff changes are often located antero-superior, meanwhile degenerative changes more likely are supero-posterior.


title: Shoulder

text: Tendons are predominantly composed of dense collagen fiber bundles. Because of their extreme short T2-relaxation time they appear typically signal-weak, respectively, dark. Degenerative changes, inflammations and also partial and complete tears cause loss of the original tendon structure. Fatty deposits, mucous degeneration and hemorrhages lead to an increased intratendinal T1-image. Edema formations, inflammatory changes and ruptures increase the signals in a T2-weighted image.


title: Shoulder

text: While using MRI, true lesions at the rotator interval region between the parts of the supraspinatus and subscapularis are all but impossible to distinguish from normal synovium and capsule.


title: Shoulder

text: In 1999, Weishaupt D. et al. reached through two readers a significant better visibility of pulley lesions at the rotator interval and the expected location of the reflection pulley of the long biceps and subscapularis tendon on parasagittal (reader1/reader2 sensitivity: 86%/100%; specificity: 90%/70%) and axial (reader1/reader2 sensitivity: 86%/93%; specificity: 90%/80%) MRA images.


title: Shoulder

text: When examining the rotator cuff, the MRA has a couple of advantages compared to the native MRI. Through a fat suppressed T2-weighted spin echo, MRA can reproduce an extreme high fat-water-contrast, which helps to detect water-deposits with better damage diagnosis in structurally changed collagen fiber bundles.


title: Shoulder

text: Tetrapod forelimbs are characterised by a high degree of mobility in the shoulder-thorax connection. Lacking a solid skeletal connection between the shoulder girdle and the vertebral column, the forelimb's attachment to the trunk is instead mainly controlled by serratus lateralis and levator scapulae. Depending on locomotor style, a bone connects the shoulder girdle to the trunk in some animals; the coracoid bone in reptiles and birds, and the clavicle in primates and bats.


title: Shoulder

text: In primates, the shoulder shows characteristics that differ from other mammals, including a well developed clavicle, a dorsally shifted scapula with prominent acromion and spine, and a humerus featuring a straight shaft and a spherical head.


title: Bande dessinée

text: ' (singular '; literally 'drawn strips'), abbreviated BDs and also referred to as Franco-Belgian comics (), are comics that are usually originally in French and created for readership in France and Belgium. These countries have a long tradition in comics, separate from that of English-language comics. Belgium is a mostly bilingual country, and comics originally in Dutch (, literally "strip stories", or simply "strips") are culturally a part of the world of "bandes dessinées"; these are translated to French and concurrently sold to the French-reading audience and vice versa.


title: Bande dessinée

text: Among the most popular "bandes dessinées" are "The Adventures of Tintin" (by Hergé), "Gaston Lagaffe" (Franquin), "Asterix" (Goscinny & Uderzo), "Lucky Luke" (Morris & Goscinny), "The Smurfs" (Peyo) and "Spike and Suzy" (Willy Vandersteen). Some highly-regarded realistically drawn and plotted "bandes dessinées" include "Blueberry" (Charlier & Giraud, aka "Moebius"), "Thorgal" (van Hamme & Rosiński), "XIII" (van Hamme & Vance), and the creations of Hermann.


title: Bande dessinée

text: In Europe, French is spoken natively not only in France and the city state of Monaco, but also by significant portions of the population of Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. The shared language creates an artistic and commercial market where national identity is often blurred, and one of the main rationales for the conception of the "Franco-Belgian comics" expression itself. The potential appeal of the French-language comics extends beyond Francophone Europe, as France in particular has strong historical and cultural ties with several Francophone overseas territories. Of these territories it is Quebec, Canada, where Franco-Belgian comics are doing best, due – aside from the fact that it has the largest comic reading Francophone population outside Europe – to that province's close historical and cultural ties with France from colonization and where European comic publishers like Le Lombard and Dargaud maintain a strong presence, in the process heavily influencing its own native Quebec comics scene, particularly from 1960 onwards. This is in stark contrast to the English-speaking part of the country, which is culturally American comics oriented.


title: Bande dessinée

text: While Flemish Belgian comic books (originally written in Dutch) are influenced by Francophone comics, especially in the early years, they evolved into a distinctly different style, both in art and in spirit, which is why they are nowadays subcategorized as Flemish comics, as their evolution started to take a different path from the late-1940s onward, due to cultural differences stemming from the increasing cultural self-awareness of the Flemish people. And while French-language publications are habitually translated into Dutch, Flemish publications are less commonly translated into French, for cultural reasons. Likewise, despite the shared language, Flemish comics do not do that well in the Netherlands and vice versa, save for some notable exceptions, such as the Willy Vandersteen creation "Suske en Wiske" ("Spike and Suzy") which is popular across the border. Concurrently, the socio-cultural idiosyncrasies contained within many Flemish comics also means that these comics have seen far less translations into other languages than their French-language counterparts have due to their more universal appeal, and the French language's cultural status.


title: Bande dessinée

text: Belgium is officially a trilingual country as there is a German-speaking Community of Belgium. Belgian comic home market first print releases, be it in Dutch or in French, are rarely translated into that language with German-speaking Belgians having to wait for internationally released editions for reading in their native tongue, typically those from licensed publishers stemming from neighboring Germany. Though Dutch and German both are Germanic languages, the German-speaking Community of Belgium lies within the territory of the Walloon Region, so that French is the most utilized (second) language in that area and has caused the handful of comic artists originating from there, such as Hermann and Didier Comès, to create their comics in French. Born Dieter Hermann Comès, Comès actually "Frenchified" his given name to this end, whereas Hermann has dispensed with his (Germanic) family name "Huppen" for his comics credits, though he maintained the Germanic spelling for his first name. Due to its relative modesty, both in size and in scope, and despite the close historical and cultural ties, no German-Belgian artists are as of 2018 known to have created comics specifically for the German comics world, when discounting commercial translations of their original Francophone creations.


title: Bande dessinée

text: A similar situation exists in France, which has several regional languages, of which Breton and Occitan are two of the more substantial ones. But while these languages are culturally recognized as regional languages, they are not official national languages, contrary to Belgium in regard to German, with similar consequences as in Belgium for comics and their artists. Native comics are rarely, if at all, released in these languages by the main comic publishers, whereas artists stemming from these regions, invariably create their comics in French – like their German-Belgian counterparts forced to do so in order to gain commercial access to the main market. On rare occasions though, small, independent local and regional publishers obtain licenses from the main comic publisher to release comic books, or rather comic albums (see: "below"), of the more popular comics in translation into the native tongue – albeit almost always long after the original French-language release of the album in question. One such known publisher is (est. 1999), operating out of Quimper, Brittany, who has released several into Breton translated comic albums. For the Catalan and to some extent Occitan readership there is an alternative though, with several Spanish comic publishers, including for example, Norma Editorial and the Spanish subsidiary of Glénat Editions. These are based in Catalonia's capital city, Barcelona, and regularly release Catalan editions of their comics, which include imported Franco-Belgian comics, of which "Asterix", "The Smurfs" and "The Adventures of Tintin" are prime examples. The situation for France's German-speaking minority is therefore identical to its more sizable counterpart in northern neighbor Belgium in regard to comics-related matters.


title: Bande dessinée

text: The term "bandes dessinées" is derived from the original description of the art form as "drawn strips". It was first introduced in the 1930s, but only became popular in the 1960s, by which time the "BD" abbreviation was also in use for its book, or album, publications (see below).


title: Bande dessinée

text: The term "bandes dessinées" contains no indication of subject matter, unlike the American terms "comics" and "funnies", which imply a humorous art form. Indeed, the distinction of comics as the "ninth art" is prevalent in Francophone scholarship on the medium ("le neuvième art"), as is the concept of comics criticism and scholarship itself. The "ninth art" designation stems from a 1964 article by in the magazine "Lettres et Médecins", and was subsequently popularized in an article series about the history of comics, which appeared in weekly installments in "Spirou" magazine from 1964 to 1967. Written by Belgian Morris with editorial input from the below-mentioned Frenchman , the article series was in itself an example of a Franco-Belgian comics project. The publication of Francis Lacassin's book "Pour un neuvième art : la bande dessinée" in 1971 further established the term.


title: Bande dessinée

text: In North America, the more serious Franco-Belgian comics are often seen as equivalent to what is known as graphic novels—though it has been observed by Belgian scholar Kurt Geeraerts that Americans originally used the expression to describe everything that deviated from their standard, 32-page comic book, meaning that "all" larger-sized, longer Franco-Belgian comic albums fell under the heading as far as they were concerned. In recent decades the English "graphic novel" expression has increasingly been adopted in Europe as well in the wake of the works of Will Eisner and Art Spiegelman, but there with the specific intent to discriminate between comics intended for a more younger and/or general readership, and those which feature more adult, mature and literary themes, not rarely in conjuncture with an innovative and/or experimental comic art style. As a result, European comic scholars have retroactively identified the 1962 "Barbarella" comic by Jean-Claude Forest (for its theme) and the first 1967 "Corto Maltese" adventure "Una ballata del mare salato" ("A Ballad of the Salt Sea") by Hugo Pratt (for both art, and story style) in particular, as the comics up for consideration as the first European "graphic novels".


title: Bande dessinée

text: During the 19th century, there were many artists in Europe drawing cartoons, occasionally even utilizing sequential multi-panel narration, albeit mostly with clarifying captions and dialogue placed under the panels rather than the Speech balloons commonly used today. These were humorous short works rarely longer than a single page. In the Francophonie, artists such as Gustave Doré, Nadar, Christophe and Caran d'Ache began to be involved with the medium.


title: Bande dessinée

text: In the early decades of the 20th century, comics were not stand-alone publications, but were published in newspapers and weekly or monthly magazines as episodes or gags. Aside from these magazines, the Catholic Church, in the form of its then powerful and influential , was creating and distributing "healthy and correct" magazines for children. In the early 1900s, the first popular French comics appeared. Two of the most prominent comics include "Bécassine" and "Les Pieds Nickelés".


title: Bande dessinée

text: In the 1920s, after the end of the first world war, the French artist Alain Saint-Ogan started out as a professional cartoonist, creating the successful series "Zig et Puce" in 1925. Saint-Ogan was one of the first French-speaking artists to fully utilize techniques popularized and formularized in the United States, such as Speech balloons, even though the text comic format would remain the predominant native format for the next two to three decades in France, propagated as such by France's educators. In 1920, the Abbot of Averbode in Belgium started publishing "Zonneland", a magazine consisting largely of text with few illustrations, which started printing comics more often in the following years.