The Image of the Bedouin in Travel Literature and Western Researchers Who Visited Palestine in the Nineteenth Century

With the weakening of the Ottoman government from the end of the sixteenth century onwards, the Bedouin took over the control of the entire Country of Palestine. As the Bedouin were present across the country, western travelers and researches visiting the Holy Land as tourists, visitors, and investigators often met the Bedouin, especially during the robbery and plunder executed by the Bedouin upon travelers, and when hiring them as tour guides, renting their camels, or employing them as guards. On their return to their countries, these travelers reported on their experiences in the East in the form of books. These western travelers and researchers, in their writings, dealt with the Bedouin. They described them as providers of services to caravans, transporters of luggage, tour guides, and robbers. The writers and researchers explicitly described the traits, characters, food habits, clothing, residences, and occupations of the Bedouin.     

Calendars Tell History: Social Rhythm and Social Change in Rural Pakistan

Time is an important element of social organization. The temporal models such as the calendar provide social rhythm by regulating various activities. The changing ways of managing time are indicative of social change. This paper presents the changing use of different calendars in Jhokwala Village, Lodhran District, Pakistan. Three calendars are used in most parts of the Punjab to varying degrees for various purposes. These are Bikrami, Islamic Hijri and Gregorian calendars. Each of these calendars has a specific history of use. This paper highlights that people choose between various alternatives in the course of history and the changing use of calendars tells the story of change and continuity in culture and people's attitude towards modern technology and social change.     

Donkey trade: Challenges to sustaining mutualism in rural Pakistan

The Pakistani government's decision to export thousands of donkeys to China to manufacture Chinese traditional medicine (ejiao) threatens the interdependence between donkeys and their keepers. This article seeks to unravel the mutualism between humans and donkeys in rural South Punjab and examines how forces of globalism and capitalism commodify the equine through parasitic disregard.     

Development and Performance Evaluation of Disk-Type Piezoelectric Transducer for Measurement of Shear and Compression Wave Velocities in Soil

A piezoelectric transducer capable of measuring both shear and compression wave velocities in soil simultaneously in triaxial testing conditions is presented. Performance evaluation of disk transducer system showed that the use of low-noise coaxial cables, proper grounding, and high resolution wave recorder can significantly enhance signal quality and eliminates crosstalk deterioration. Distortions due to near-field effects were found to diminish by increasing input frequency and by using sinusoidal input waveform, compared to square input. Disk-type piezoelectric transducers show significant future potential for laboratory determination of shear, and compression modulus of soil because of their robustness and noninvasive nature.