SCIENCE NOTEBOOK

Changes in ocean conditions could be the cause of a steep decline in European eels, biologists report. The number of eels reaching Europe has fallen by as much as 90 percent since 1970, according to a new study that correlated eel catches at a site in the Netherlands since 1938 with climatic conditions in the Sargasso Sea, where the eels spawn. (By Katherine Frey -- The Washington Post)

Since the 1970s, the number of eels reaching Europe is estimated to have dropped by more than 90 percent.

Since glass eels tend to live in the top 330 feet of the water column, Friedland said in a statement, "any changes in the surface waters will have a big impact during critical stages in their development." The paper will appear in the ICES Journal of Marine Research.

-- Juliet Eilperin

Boss's Abuse Is Costly

Getting ridiculed at work may not be illegal. But it can be just as psychologically damaging as sexual harassment, according to a study involving tens of thousands of employees at a variety of workplaces.

Yelling bosses may not seem worthy of scientific study. Everybody has had a supervisor with a less than civil demeanor, and most have survived.

M. Sandy Hershcovis, who studies workplace aggression and justice issues at the University of Manitoba, decided to look more closely at the psychological effects, however. Not satisfied with the everyday wisdom that occasional belittling is just part of a day's work, she and Julian Barling of Queen's University in Ontario combined the results of 110 studies conducted over 21 years on the impact of sexual and nonsexual workplace aggression.

The behaviors weathered by employees included verbal and nonverbal rudeness; persistent criticism of their work or repeated reminders of past errors; being shouted at; being the object of gossip or lies; being ignored or excluded; and being the subject of derogatory comments about their personal lives or attitudes.

Compared with those who experienced sexual harassment, those who were subjected to nonsexual abuses reported being more angry, anxious and stressed, more dissatisfied with their jobs and their bosses, and more likely to quit.

The results were reported Saturday at the Seventh International Conference on Work, Stress and Health, held in Washington.

-- Rick Weiss