David Kipnis (1924-1999).

Memorializes David Kipnis for his many contributions to social psychology. During his research career, Kipnis explored the psychology of social power in diverse settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some comparative aspects of yawning in Betta splendens, Homo sapiens, Panthera leo, and Papio sphinx..

There have been relatively few empirical or theoretical investigations of the yawning response. Based on field and laboratory research with four vertebrate species, data are presented on yawning frequency. In general, human yawning occurred more frequently in the relative absence of social, cognitive, or physical stimulation; yawning by the other species was more frequent in the presence of such stimulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interspecific aggression in wild mice.

Determined probabilities of interspecific fighting and relative dominance status between Mus musculus and various species of Peromyscus mice in laboratory encounters. It was felt that interspecific dominance as measured by encounter outcomes might contribute to determination of species survival. Species differences in social and nonsocial behaviors were analyzed for whether differences were caused by real behavioral differences between the species, or by behavioral differences between dominant and subordinate animals of any species. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Water reuse: >90% water yield in MBR/RO through concentrate recycling and CO2 addition as scaling control

Over 1.5 years continuous piloting of a municipal wastewater plant upgraded with a double membrane system (ca. 0.6 m³ d⁻¹ of product water produced) have demonstrated the feasibility of achieving high water quality with a water yield of 90% by combining a membrane bioreactor (MBR) with a submerged ultrafiltration membrane followed by a reverse osmosis membrane (RO). The novelty of the proposed treatment scheme consists of the appropriate conditioning of MBR effluent prior to the RO and in recycling the RO concentrates back to the biological unit.All the 15 pharmaceuticals measured in the influent municipal sewage were retained below 100 ng L⁻¹, a proposed quality parameter, and mostly below detection limits of 10 ng L⁻¹. The mass balance of the micropollutants shows that these are either degraded or discharged with the excess concentrate, while only minor quantities were found in the excess sludge. The micropollutant load in the concentrate can be significantly reduced by ozonation. A low treated water salinity (<10 mM inorganic salts; 280 ± 70 μS cm⁻¹) also confirms that the resulting product has a high water quality.Solids precipitation and inorganic scaling are effectively mitigated by lowering the pH in the RO feed water with CO₂ conditioning, while the concentrate from the RO is recycled to the biological unit where CO₂ is stripped by aeration. This causes precipitation to occur in the bioreactor bulk, where it is much less of a process issue. SiO₂ is the sole exception. Equilibrium modeling of precipitation reactions confirms the effectiveness of this scaling-mitigation approach for CaCO₃ precipitation, calcium phosphate and sulfate minerals.     

Robert E. Lana (1932-2006).

Presents an obituary for Robert Lana. Lana, a professor for 39 years at Temple University, died on October 17, 2006, of respiratory and cardiac problems. A leading social psychologist, Bob had retired from Temple in 2005. Born in Union City, New Jersey, on August 9, 1932, he received his bachelor of arts from Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey (1954) and his doctorate from the University of Maryland (1958). His doctoral dissertation was published in Psychological Bulletin (1959) and was awarded first prize in a national Psi Chi competition. Lana is survived by his wife Jean, his daughter Renata, and a grandson, Luca. His doctoral students include many eminent psychologists, who join his family and colleagues from around the world in mourning the death of a distinguished and charming scholar. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some determinants of aggressive and predatory responses in Betta splendens..

In an initial investigation, the frequency of threat displays by 9 adult male Betta splendens was positively correlated with the size of stimulus guppies, and biting attacks were negatively correlated with guppy size. In 4 subsequent experiments (42 Ss), these results were confirmed and extended. Satiety and food deprivation changed the frequency of biting attacks without affecting threat-display frequency. Conversely, prolonged exposure to a mirror decreased threat-display frequency without affecting biting attacks. It is concluded that aggressive and predatory behaviors are relatively independent with respect to causal factors. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predation: Separation of aggressive and hunger motivation by conditioned aversion.

Reports results of 2 experiments with a total of 50 male Long-Evans rats. In Exp I, Ss were given LiCl 15 min after ingesting mice or saccharin for either 1 day or 4 days. Intake of both substances dropped in the 1-trial groups but not in the 4-trial groups. In Exp II, Ss that received LiCl after killing mice they were not permitted to eat showed no changes in mouse killing. Ss permitted to feed on mice they had killed continued to kill but ate less after a single LiCl trial. Feeding and killing appear to be separable by this technique. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)