Upper Mesopotamia is the name used for the uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, the region has been known by the traditional Arabic name of al-Jazira and the Syriac variant Gāzartā or Gozarto; the Euphrates and Tigris rivers transform Mesopotamia into an island, as they are joined together at the Shatt al-Arab in the Basra Governorate of Iraq, their sources in eastern Turkey are in close proximity. The region extends south from the mountains of Anatolia, east from the hills on the left bank of the Euphrates river, west from the mountains on the right bank of the Tigris river and includes the Sinjar plain, it extends down the Euphrates to Hīt. The Khabur runs for over 400 km across the plain, from Turkey in the north, feeding into the Euphrates; the major settlements are Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, al-Hasakah, Diyarbakır and Qamishli. The western, Syrian part, is contiguous with the Syrian al-Hasakah Governorate and is described as "Syria's breadbasket".

The eastern, Iraqi part and extends beyond the Iraqi Nineveh Governorate. In the north it includes the Turkish provinces of Şanlıurfa and parts of Diyarbakır Province; this area now has large swaths controlled by Rojava. The name al-Jazira has been used since the 7th century AD by Islamic sources to refer to the northern section of Mesopotamia, which together with the Sawād, made up al-‘arāq; the name means "island", at one time referred to the land between the two rivers, which in Aramaic is Bit Nahren. The name could be restricted to the Sinjar plain coming down from the Sinjar Mountains, or expanded to embrace the entire plateau east of the coastal ranges. In pre-Abbasid times the western and eastern boundaries seem to have fluctuated, sometimes including what is now northern Syria to the west and Adiabene in the east. Al-Jazira is characterised as an outwash or alluvial plain, quite distinct from the Syrian Desert and lower-lying central Mesopotamia; the region has several parts to it. In the northwest is one of the largest salt flats in the world, Sabkhat al-Jabbul.

Further south, extending from Mosul to near Basra is a sandy desert not unlike the Empty Quarter. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries the region has been plagued by drought. Al-Jazirah is important archeologically; this is the area where the earliest signs of agriculture and domestication of animals have been found, thus the starting point leading to civilization and the modern world. Al-Jazirah includes the mountain Karaca Dağ in southern Turkey, where the closest relative to modern wheat still grows wild. At several sites we can see a continuous occupation from a hunter-gathering lifestyle to an economy based on growing wheat and legumes from around 9000 BC. Domestication of goats and sheep followed within a few generations, but didn't become widespread for more than a millennium. Weaving and pottery followed about two thousand years later. From Al-Jazirah the idea of farming along with the domesticated seeds spread first to the rest of the Levant and to North-Africa and eastwards through Mesopotamia all the way to present-day Pakistan.

Earlier archeologists worked on the assumption that agriculture was a prerequisite to a sedentary lifestyle, but excavations in Israel and Lebanon surprised science by showing that a sedentary lifestyle came before agriculture. Further surprises followed in the 1990s with the spectacular finds of the megalithic structures at Göbekli Tepe in south-eastern Turkey; the earliest of these ritual buildings are from before 9000 BC—over five thousand years older than Stonehenge—and thus the absolute oldest known megalithic structures anywhere. As far as we know today no well-established farming societies existed at the time. Farming seemed to be still experimental and only a smallish supplement to continued hunting and gathering. So either were sedentary hunter-gatherers rich enough and many enough to organize and execute such large communal building projects, or well-established agricultural societies existed much further back than hitherto known. After all, Göbekli Tepe lies just 32 km from Karaca Dağ.

The questions raised by Göbekli Tepe have led to intense and creative discussions among archeologists of the Middle East. Excavations at Göbekli Tepe continues, only about 5 percent has been revealed so far. Sumerians are theorized to have evolved from the Samarra culture of northern Mesopotamia; the Uruk period existed from the protohistoric Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age period in Mesopotamia, including a section of the upper region. Upper Mesopotamia is the heartland of ancient Assyria, founded circa the 25th century BC. From the late 24th Century BC it was part of the Akkadian Empire, separated into three eras: Old Assyrian Empire, Middle Assyrian Empire, Neo Assyrian Empire; the region fell to the Assyrians' southern brethren, the Babylonians in 605 BC, from 539 BC it became part of the Achaemenid Empire. From 323 BC, it was ruled by the Greek Seleucid Empire, the Greeks corrupting the name to Syria, which they applied to Aram, it fell to the Parthians and Romans and was renamed Assyria by both.

The area was still known as

Low-speed pre-ignition known as stochastic pre-ignition, is a pre-ignition event that occurs in gasoline vehicle engines when there is a premature ignition of the main fuel charge. LSPI is most common in certain turbocharged direct-injection vehicles operating in low-speed and high-load driving conditions. LSPI events are random and infrequent, their effects on impacted vehicles can include high-pressure spikes, loud knocking noises and sometimes catastrophic engine damage. Automakers use engine downsizing to help improve vehicles’ fuel efficiency and reduce emissions, use turbocharger technology to recover power lost in the downsizing process; the presence of LSPI limits automakers’ ability to capture the full potential of turbocharged engines to meet increasing fuel-efficiency requirements and to further reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Updated oil-performance standards are taking shape to address LSPI. General Motors’ next-generation dexos1 specification, scheduled for release in 2015, will include an engine test based on a GM 2.0-liter four-cylinder Ecotec that will test for LSPI.

The proposed ILSAC GF-6 standard will include a test for oil-related LSPI events in gasoline direct-injection engines based on a Ford 2.0 L four-cylinder Ecoboost engine. Researchers have been unable to pinpoint a single root cause for all LSPI instances. However, tests involving the use of engine oils have shown engine oils can be formulated to prevent LSPI while maintaining the oil’s basic performances; the Southwest Research Institute launched the two-year Preignition Prevention Program consortium in 2011 aimed at understanding the source of LSPI and working towards developing a standardized test for lubes / fuels The consortium's objectives included examining the interaction between fuel and oil in LSPI events, understanding how hardware design could be used to help mitigate LSPI, identifying fluids that can help reduce LSPI occurrences. The oil additive industry is looking at using engine oil additives to suppress LSPI while retaining the fuel-saving benefits of existing engine technologies.

Hirano, Satoshi. "Investigation of Engine Oil Effect on Abnormal Combustion in Turbocharged Direct Injection - Spark Ignition Engines". SAE Technical Paper Series. SAE Technical Paper Series. 1. Doi:10.4271/2013-01-2569. Low-Speed Pre-Ignition or "Super-Knock" Southwest Research Institute Pre-ignition Prevention Program Obama Administration Finalizes Historic 54.5 mpg Fuel Efficiency Standards

The Imperial Yeomanry Long Service Medal was a long service medal awarded by the United Kingdom. It is no longer awarded. Authorised by King Edward VII under Army Order No. 211 of 1904, the medal was awarded to troopers and non-commissioned officers in the Imperial Yeomanry for 10 years service and attending 10 annual camps. Any previous full time service in the Regular Army did not count towards this medal, although service in other volunteer and auxiliary forces could be counted, provided that five years preceding the award were served in the Yeomanry. In 1908, the Imperial Yeomanry along with the Volunteer Force were transferred to the newly created Territorial Force; the medal was superseded by the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal. Awards were published in Army Orders, with a total of 1,674 medals awarded, to men in over fifty different Yeomanry regiments, including 951 awards when the medal was first established. Among the recipients was the military artist Harry Payne, who served with the Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry.

The Imperial Yeomanry Long Service and Good Conduct Medal is an oval shaped silver medal with a fixed ring suspender at the top. The obverse depicts the bust of King Edward VII in uniform facing left. Around the top edge is the legend, EDWARDVS VII REX IMPERATOR; the reverse bears the words IMPERIAL YEOMANRY FOR LONG SERVICE AND GOOD CONDUCT. The medal hangs from a 32 mm light yellow ribbon threaded through the top ring suspender; the medal was issued with the recipient's name and unit impressed on the rim