The use of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in assessing decision-making capacity in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) is inconsistent. We believe this may stem from persisting confusion regarding the nosological status of personality disorder and also a failure to recognise the fact that emotional dysregulation and characteristic psychodynamic abnormalities may cause substantial difficulties in using and weighing information. Clearer consensus on these issues is required in order to provide consistent patient care and reduce uncertainty for clinicians in what are often emergency and high-stakes clinical scenarios.

The development of 12 litter and seven phylloplane fungal species was examined from spore germination to colony sporulation across a series of environmentally relevant UV-B doses. For the litter fungi all aspects of fungal development and morphology studied were affected. On the basis of the responses of mycelial extension rate and spore germination to increasing UV-B, the 12 litter fungi were divided into two groups. Group A (Aspergillus fumigatus, Penicillium hordei, P. janczewskii, P. spinulosum and P. purpurogenum) were sensitive to UV-B, with the predicted effects of a 15% ozone depletion resulting in 22–44% reductions in spore germination. Mycelial extension rate on the agar surface was similarly affected, with reductions ranging from 15 to 25%. In contrast group B (Mucor hiemalis, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Leptosphaeria coniothyrium, Trichoderma viride, Ulocladium consortiale, the Verticillium state of Nectria inventa and Marasmius androsaceus) were relatively insensitive to UV-B, with significant, but small, reductions in mycelial extension rate (<5%) and spore germination (0–22%). Spore production in response to UV-B in the litter species was very variable, reductions ranging from 5% to complete inhibition. Only P. hordei showed a significant increase in spore production in response to UV-B dose. In contrast, in all seven phylloplane species, spore germination was unaffected by increasing dose. Mycelial extension rate was slightly (2–12%), but significantly, inhibited by UV-B for the four phylloplane fungi tested. The contrasting responses of phylloplane and litter fungi to UV-B are discussed along with the implications for resource capture by competing fungal species and the possible effects of UV-B on decomposition processes.

Four cultivars of winter barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and two cultivars of combining pea (Pisum sativum L.) were grown in the field in the UK (52°N) and irradiated under banks of UV-B lamps in 1994/95 (barley) and 1996 (pea). Supplementary UV-B radiation was applied to treated plots as a proportional addition to the UV-B dose received under a control plot. Treated plants received a UV-B enhancement simulating the consequence of a 15% reduction in the amount of stratospheric ozone. No significant effect on yield and few significant effects on growth, pigment composition or chlorophyll fluorescence variables were detected. However, interplot variability was such that yield differences of <8·5% (pea) and <21·6% (barley) had less than a 95% probability of being detected as significant at the 5% level. The results indicate that yields of pea, and probably barley, would not be markedly affected by the increase in UV-B associated with a 15% reduction in stratospheric ozone. However, given uncertainties, such as the possible interactions between the effects of UV-B and those of other environmental factors, the possibility of significant crop responses to stratospheric ozone depletion cannot be excluded.

The sensitivity to UV-B (290–320 nm) radiation of common phylloplane yeasts from two contrasting UV-B environments was compared in the laboratory using mixtures of white light (PAR: 400–700 nm) and UV-B radiation from artificial lamp sources. Sporidiobolus salmonicolor, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Cryptococcus sp., the dominant yeasts on leaves of tea (Camellia sinensis), were isolated in Sri Lanka (SL), while Sporidiobolus sp. and Bullera alba, dominant on faba bean (Vicia faba), were isolated in the U.K. Dose responses were determined separately for each yeast. UV-B reduced colony forming units (due to cell mortality or inactivation) and colony size (due to reduced multiplication) of all yeasts. The LD50 values and doses causing 50% reduction of cells per colony were higher for SL isolates than U.K. isolates. Results indicated that each yeast is somewhat vulnerable to UV-B doses representative of its natural habitat. The relative insensitivity of SL isolates was shown when SL and U.K. isolates were irradiated simultaneously with the same dose of UV-B. Of the two U.K. yeasts, B. alba was significantly more sensitive than Sporidiobolus sp. to UV-B. Except for R. mucilaginosa from SL, all yeasts demonstrated some photorepair in the presence of white light. White light provided relatively little protection for the U.K. isolate of Sporidiobolus sp. although it allowed increased colony size.

The spectral responses of Sporidiobolus sp. (U.K.) and of B. alba (U.K.) were broadly similar. Wavelengths longer than 320 nm had no measurable effect on colony forming units. However, colony survival was significantly reduced at 310 nm and all shorter wavebands. No colonies were counted at 290 nm or below.