My avatar,my self: Virtual harm and attachment   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Jessica Wolfendale 《Ethics and Information Technology》2007,9(2):111-119

Multi-user online environments involve millions of participants world-wide. In these online communities participants can use their online personas – avatars – to chat, fight, make friends, have sex, kill monsters and even get married. Unfortunately participants can also use their avatars to stalk, kill, sexually assault, steal from and torture each other. Despite attempts to minimise the likelihood of interpersonal virtual harm, programmers cannot remove all possibility of online deviant behaviour. Participants are often greatly distressed when their avatars are harmed by other participants’ malicious actions, yet there is a tendency in the literature on this topic to dismiss such distress as evidence of too great an involvement in and identification with the online character. In this paper I argue that this dismissal of virtual harm is based on a set of false assumptions about the nature of avatar attachment and its relation to genuine moral harm. I argue that we cannot dismiss avatar attachment as morally insignificant without being forced to also dismiss other, more acceptable, forms of attachment such as attachment to possessions, people and cultural objects and communities. Arguments against according moral significance to virtual harm fail because they do not reflect participants’ and programmers’ experiences and expectations of virtual communities and they have the unintended consequence of failing to grant significance to attachments that we take for granted, morally speaking. Avatar attachment is expressive of identity and self-conception and should therefore be accorded the moral significance we give to real-life attachments that play a similar role. A shorter version of this paper was presented at the Cyberspace 2005 Conference at Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic  相似文献   

Nychthemeral rhythmicity of urinary copper levels in healthy Indians and renal stone formers     

R. K. Singh  A. Bansal  S. K. Bansal  A. K. Upadhyay  V. K. Singh 《Indian journal of clinical biochemistry : IJCB》1992,7(1):61-65

Nychthemeral rhythmicity of urinary copper (Cu) was studied in 40 clinically healthy volunteers and 35 renal stone formers. A marked diurnal rhythm was noticed in urinary Cu levels in healthy subjects with maximum excretion at 0000 to 0600 hr followed by a progressive fall during the rest of the period reaching minimum between 1200 to 1800 hr in males and 0600 to 1200 hr in female volunteers. Similarly, all stone patients exhibited a definite rhythm in urinary Cu with significant amplitude and acrophases at 2145 hr for males and 2141 hr for female stone formers. However, there was no difference in mean 24-hr Cu excretion in male and female stone formers, whereas a significant change was observed in case of healthy subjects. Urinary Cu was found to be significantly increased in renal stone formers in comparison to healthy controls of either sex attributing a significant role of this overlooked trace mineral in the crystallization and/or activation of either of the process of stone formation in the renal tubules.  相似文献   

Bancroftian filariasis in south east Madhya Pradesh: Pre-control epidemilogical observations     

Vandana Dixit  Ashok V. Kurup  A K Gupta  O M Kataria  G B K S Prasad 《Indian journal of clinical biochemistry : IJCB》1997,12(1):39-43

Lymphatic filariasis caused byWuchereria bancrofti is a major health problem next only to malaria. A study had been conducted to estimate the prevalence of microfilaraemia in a rural endemic community near Raipur. The incidence of microfilaramia in the community was found to be about 14% when studied by night finger prick method. The incidence appears to be more in males as compared to females. The infection rate in vector population i.e.,Culex quinquefasciatus was recorded at a rate of 10%. No relationship could be drawn between the rates of vector and human filarial infections or between the density of vector population and the rate of vector/human infection(s). Prior health education is essential before taking up control and preventive measures in given endemic zone.  相似文献   

Hyperhomocysteinemia,MMPs and Cochlear Function: A Short Review     

Seema Bhargava  Meghaa Shanta Bhargava  Eishaan Kamta Bhargava  LM Srivastava 《Indian journal of clinical biochemistry : IJCB》2016,31(2):148-151

Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHCY) has been demonstrated to affect cochlear microvasculature as well as cochlear epithelial cells directly, with a resultant alteration of the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs). Hence, ascertaining the optimum concentration of MMPs and TIMPs in the cochlea could help to inhibit hearing loss due to HHCY by the administration of appropriate MMP inhibitors, Since infections/inflammations as well as ototoxic antibiotics have a similar mechanism of otic pathology, the cochlear damage they cause could also be similarly prevented.  相似文献   

Synthesis of singly-terminated ladder networks by multivariable array using homogeneous polynomials     

B. Raman  V. Ramachandran  M.O. Ahmad  M.N.S. Swamy 《Journal of The Franklin Institute》1982,313(6):353-372

This paper discusses a multivariable array whose elements are multivariable homogeneous polynomials which may have missing terms in any of the variables. This array permits one to obtain conditions for the realizability of a driving-point function or a transfer function as a resistively terminated low-pass ladder network. By reac- tance transformations, other forms of ladder structures can be obtained. The case of cascade-separable ladder networks is discussed in detail.  相似文献   

Privacy,speech, and values: what we have no business knowing     

Adam D. Moore 《Ethics and Information Technology》2016,18(1):41-49

In the United States the ascendancy of speech protection is due to an expansive and unjustified view of the value or primacy of free expression and access to information. This is perhaps understandable, given that privacy has been understood as a mere interest, whereas speech rights have been seen as more fundamental. I have argued elsewhere that the “mere interest” view of privacy is false. Privacy, properly defined, is a necessary condition for human well-being or flourishing. The opening section of this article will provide an overview of this theory. Next, after a few remarks on speech absolutism, privacy absolutism, and balancing theories, I will sketch several of the dominant argument strands that have been offered in support of presumptively weighty speech rights. While these arguments, taken together, establish that free speech is important, they do not support the view that speech should nearly always trump privacy. In final section I will present and defend a way to balance free speech and privacy claims.  相似文献   

Superoxide dismutase and catalase activities and their correlation with malondialdehyde in schizophrenic patients     

Rukmini M. S.  Benedicta D'Souza  Vivian D'Souza 《Indian journal of clinical biochemistry : IJCB》2004,19(2):114-118

Free radical mediated pathological processes may have a role in schizophrenia. Free radicals (oxy radicals, such as superoxide, hydroxyl ions and nitric oxide) cause cell injury, when they are generated in excess or when the antioxidant defense is impaired. Both these processes seem to be affected in schizophrenia. In this study we investigated erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities as antioxidant enzymes, malondialdehyde (MDA) as a sign of lipid peroxidation in schizophrenic patients. Activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and malondialdehyde were greater in patients compared with the control group which may reflect increased oxidative stress in the brain tissue of schizophrenics. In the patient group erythrocyte SOD and CAT activities were weakly negative correlated with MDA concentration. These data reveal that antioxidant defense mechanisms might be impaired in schizophrenic patients. These findings also provide a theoretical basis for the development of novel therapeutic strategies, such as antioxidant supplementation.  相似文献   

Overexpression of Aldose Reductase Render Mouse Hepatocytes More Sensitive to Acetaminophen Induced Oxidative Stress and Cell Death     

Munzir M. E. Ahmed  J. A. S. Al-Obosi  H. M. Osman  M. E. Shayoub 《Indian journal of clinical biochemistry : IJCB》2016,31(2):162-170

Acetaminophen (APAP) a commonly used drug for decrease the fever and pain but is capable to induced hepatotoxicity at over dose. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of APAP on the expression of anti-apoptotic and antioxidative defense genes, and whether aldose reductase over-expressing plasmid capable to protect against APAP-induced oxidative stress and cell death. APAP treatment induced oxidative stress and hepatotoxicity, and significantly increased aldose reductase mRNA and protein expression in mouse hepatocyte (AML-12). Unexpectedly, AML-12 cells over-expressing aldose reductase augmented APAP-induced reduction in cell viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, glutathione (GSH) depletion and glutathione S-transferase A2 expression. Moreover, over-expression of aldose reductase potentiated APAP induced reduction on proliferating cell nuclear antigen, B cell lymphoma-extra large (bcl-x_L), catalase, glutathione peroxidase-1 (GPx-1) and abolished APAP-induced B-cell lymphoma 2 (bcl-2) inductions. Further, over-expression of aldose reductase significantly abolished AMP activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity in APAP-treated cells and induced p53 expression. This results demonstrate that APAP induced toxicity in AML-12, increased aldose reductase expression, and over-expression of aldose reductase render this cell more susceptible to APAP induced oxidative stress and cell death, this probably due to inhibition AMPK or bcl-2 activity, or may due to competition between aldose reductase and glutathione reductase for NADPH.  相似文献   

Medicinal plants for treatment of diabetes mellitus     

R. Shukia  S. B. Sharma  D. Puri  K. M. Prabhu  P. S. Murthy 《Indian journal of clinical biochemistry : IJCB》2000,15(1):169-177

Many plants have been used for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in Indian system of medicine and in other ancient systems of the world. Out of these only a few have been evaluated as per modern system of medicine. From many such plants only extracts have been prepared and their usefulness evaluated in experimental diabetes in animals. In some plants likeAllium cepa, Allium sativum, Ficus bengalensis, Gymnema sylvestre, Pterocarpus marsupium etc. active hypoglycemic principles have been isolated and their mechanism of action studied. Most of them seem to act directly on pancreas (pancreatic effect) and stimulate insulin level in blood. Some have extra pancreatic effect also by acting directly on tissues like liver, muscle etc. and alter favourably the activities of the regulatory enzymes of glycolysis, gluconeogenesis and other pathways. Since the plant products have less side effects, they have the potential as good hypoglycemic drugs. They may also provide clues for the development of new and better oral drugs for diabetes.  相似文献   

Serum apolipoproteins in the patients of myocardial infarction in different age groups     

R. Sharma  V. S. Singh 《Indian journal of clinical biochemistry : IJCB》2001,16(1):122-126

The level of serum cholesterol (Ch), serum-high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc), serum-low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), serum very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDLc), Triglyceride (Tg), Apolipoprotein A-1, B and ratio of Apolipoprotein A1/B were observed in 151 survivors of myocardial infarction in different age groups. A significant increase was found in the level of triglyceride, LDLc, apolipoprotein-B and a significant decrease in apolipoprotein-A1 and the ratio of apolipoprotein A1/B. No significant alteration was found in serum cholesterol, HDLc except in the age group of 31–40 years and 41–50 years and VLDLc. Thus, serum Apo A-1 and Apo-B may be considerably better markers for coronary artery disease than traditional lipid parameters.  相似文献