Hacking into tragedy : exploring the ethics of death reporting in the social media age

The phone-tapping scandal blew up with the revelation that murder victim Milly Dowler’s phone had been hacked, seeming to demonstrate that the public are much more concerned with the feelings of bereaved families than with the reputations of celebrities or politicians. Therefore any regulation that arises from the UK hacking scandal is likely to include the area of contact between journalists and the grieving. This paper considers whether families actually need more “protection” from journalists and, drawing on evidence from interviews with bereaved relatives, argues that what they actually need is informed access to the media. It also considers “hacking” and lifting material from social media sites, which, while being legal, similarly prompts many ethical concerns. Journalists’ attitudes to using these sites in covering personal traumatic events will be explored using data collected from questionnaires mostly from reporters of five years or less experience. In particular the paper will examine whether journalists consider “virtual door-stepping” to be more or less intrusive than traditional approaches and whether they use these sites to limit contact with the bereaved. It will attempt to assess the benefits and harms of a probable increased usage of social networking sites in the intrusive reporting process

How do you feel? Preparing novice reporters for the death knock

The death knock is a reporting task that presents its own particular pressures. In addition to the usual editorial, legal and ethical concerns, the potential on the part of the journalist to do harm is heightened as they attempt to interview already vulnerable people in a situation which most are ill prepared for. In this environment, reporters are generally expected to learn how to undertake this particular form of sensitive reporting 'by doing'. Many journalists have received little or no training in this area and despite journalism educators demonstrating a willingness to prepare their students for their first attempt at this type of reporting, there is considerable confusion over the most appropriate and effective methods for doing so. This article discusses certain approaches, specifically role playing, that could be used in the classroom. Firstly, journalists' perceptions of the activity and their preparedness for it were identified in order to enrich educators' understanding of the process. Two studies were undertaken - a survey of journalists' attitudes to intrusive reporting and interviews with journalists and other interested parties on their perceptions of the death knock and appropriate educational strategies. Finally, a focus group of current second and third year students was held to review findings

Beyond the Veil: Graphic Representation of Islamic Women

Few symbols have the ability to polarize public opinion as the image of the veil. It has long been stigmatized as a form of oppression or a “symbol of backwardness...a visual cue to bolster claims of the rise in Islamic militancy.”1 The majority of work written on the practice of veiling view it through a lens of assimilation. From this perspective, the veil becomes a road block to acculturation. The ambiguity of the identity of Islamic woman compounds this issue, so interpretation relies largely on the visual symbol of the veil, or hijab, as it is more commonly referred. This interpretation is largely problematic because she is not allowed an identity beyond the superficial. This perspective is directly challenged in the graphic novel Persepolis and the comic Qahera. Persepolis is a memoir of Marjane Satrapi’s coming of age in Iran during the fundamentalist revolution of the 1980s. Qahera is an online comic created by nineteen year old art student and native Egyptian, Deena Mohamed, that focuses on confronting women’s rights issues within Egypt. Both texts use provocative images of the veil to articulate a new understanding of the practice. This understanding centers around key issues for the contemporary Islamic woman: freedom, identity, and otherness. To develop a concrete understanding of these issues the practice and purpose of veiling needs to be established

Environmental pollutants from the Scott and Shackleton expeditions during the ‘Heroic Age’ of Antarctic exploration

Early explorers to Antarctica built wooden huts and brought huge quantities of supplies and equipment to support their geographical and scientific studies for several years. When the expeditions ended and relief ships arrived, a rapid exodus frequently allowed only essential items to be taken north. The huts and thousands of items were left behind. Fuel depots with unused containers of petroleum products, asbestos materials, and diverse chemicals were also left at the huts. This investigation found high concentrations of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in soils under and around the historic fuel depots, including anthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, chrysene, fluorene, and pyrene, as well as benzo[a]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene, and fluoranthene, which are recognized carcinogens. Asbestos materials within the huts have been identified and extensive amounts of fragmented asbestos were found littering the ground around the Cape Evans hut. These materials are continually abraded and fragmented as tourists walk over them and the coarse scoria breaks and grinds down the materials. A chemical spill, within the Cape Evans hut, apparently from caustic substances from one of the scientific experiments, has caused an unusual deterioration and defibration on affected woods. Although these areas are important historic sites protected by international treaties, the hazardous waste materials left by the early explorers should be removed and remedial action taken to restore the site to as pristine a condition as possible. Recommendations are discussed for international efforts to study and clean up these areas, where the earliest environmental pollution in Antarctica was produced

A spontaneous binge-like eating model in mice using unpredictable once weekly access to palatable diets

The authors are grateful for funding from the Scottish Government Strategic Research Programme, and from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement 245009 (NeuroFAST).Peer reviewedPostprin

Lifelongα-tocopherol supplementation increases the median life span of C57BL/6 mice in the cold but has only minor effects on oxidative damage

The effects of dietary antioxidant supplementation on oxidative stress and life span are confused. We maintained C57BL/6 mice at 7 ± 2°C and supplemented their diet with α-tocopherol from 4 months of age. Supplementation significantly increased (p = 0.042) median life span by 15% (785 days, n = 44) relative to unsupplemented controls (682 days, n = 43) and also increased maximum life span (oldest 10%, p = 0.028). No sex or sex by treatment interaction effects were observed on life span, with treatment having no effect on resting or daily metabolic rate. Lymphocyte and hepatocyte oxidative DNA damage and hepatic lipid peroxidation were unaffected by supplementation, but hepatic oxidative DNA damage increased with age. Using a cDNA macroarray, genes associated with xenobiotic metabolism were significantly upregulated in the livers of female mice at 6 months of age (2 months supplementation). At 22 months of age (18 months supplementation) this response had largely abated, but various genes linked to the p21 signaling pathway were upregulated at this time. We suggest that α-tocopherol may initially be metabolized as a xenobiotic, potentially explaining why previous studies observe a life span extension generally when lifelong supplementation is initiated early in life. The absence of any significant effect on oxidative damage suggests that the life span extension observed was not mediated via any antioxidant properties of α-tocopherol. We propose that the life span extension observed following α-tocopherol supplementation may be mediated via upregulation of cytochrome p450 genes after 2 months of supplementation and/or upregulation of p21 signaling genes after 18 months of supplementation. However, these signaling pathways now require further investigation to establish their exact role in life span extension following α-tocopherol supplementation

Human cloning in film: horror, ambivalence, hope

Fictional filmic representations of human cloning have shifted in relation to the 1997 announcement of the birth of Dolly the cloned sheep, and since therapeutic human cloning became a scientific practice in the early twentieth century. The operation and detail of these shifts can be seen through an analysis of the films The Island (2005) and Aeon Flux (2005). These films provide a site for the examination of how these changes in human cloning from fiction to practice, and from horror to hope, have been represented and imagined, and how these distinctions have operated visually in fiction, and in relation to genre

Life-long vitamin C supplementation in combination with cold exposure does not affect oxidative damage or lifespan in mice, but decreases expression of antioxidant protection genes

Abstract Oxidative stress is suggested to be central to the ageing process, with endogenous antioxidant defence and repair mechanisms in place to minimize damage. Theoretically, supplementation with exogenous antioxidants might support the endogenous antioxidant system, thereby reducing oxidative damage, ageing-related functional decline and prolonging life-and health-span. Yet supplementation trials with antioxidants in animal models have had minimal success. Human epidemiological data are similarly unimpressive, leading some to question whether vitamin C, for example, might have pro-oxidant properties in vivo. We supplemented cold exposed (7 AE 2 8C) female C57BL/6 mice over their lifespan with vitamin C (ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate), widely advocated and self administered to reduce oxidative stress, retard ageing and increase healthy lifespan. No effect on mean or maximum lifespan following vitamin C treatment or any significant impact on body mass, or on parameters of energy metabolism was observed. Moreover, no differences in hepatocyte and lymphocyte DNA oxidative damage or hepatic lipid peroxidation was seen between supplemented and control mice. Using a DNA macroarray specific for oxidative stress-related genes, we found that after 18 months of supplementation, mice exhibited a significantly reduced expression of several genes in the liver linked to free-radical scavenging, including Mn-superoxide dismutase. We confirmed these effects by Northern blotting and found additional down-regulation of glutathione peroxidase (not present on macroarray) in the vitamin C treated group. We suggest that high dietary doses of vitamin C are ineffective at prolonging lifespan in mice because any positive benefits derived as an antioxidant are offset by compensatory reductions in endogenous protection mechanisms, leading to no net reduction in accumulated oxidative damage.

Toward designing human intervention studies to prevent osteoarthritis after knee injury:A report from an interdisciplinary OARSI 2023 workshop

Objective: The global impact of osteoarthritis is growing. Currently no disease modifying osteoarthritis drugs/therapies exist, increasing the need for preventative strategies. Knee injuries have a high prevalence, distinct onset, and strong independent association with post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). Numerous groups are embarking upon research that will culminate in clinical trials to assess the effect of interventions to prevent knee PTOA despite challenges and lack of consensus about trial design in this population. Our objectives were to improve awareness of knee PTOA prevention trial design and discuss state-of-the art methods to address the unique opportunities and challenges of these studies. Design: An international interdisciplinary group developed a workshop, hosted at the 2023 Osteoarthritis Research Society International Congress. Here we summarize the workshop content and outputs, with the goal of moving the field of PTOA prevention trial design forward. Results: Workshop highlights included discussions about target population (considering risk, homogeneity, and possibility of modifying osteoarthritis outcome); target treatment (considering delivery, timing, feasibility and effectiveness); comparators (usual care, placebo), and primary symptomatic outcomes considering surrogates and the importance of knee function and symptoms other than pain to this population. Conclusions: Opportunities to test multimodal PTOA prevention interventions across preclinical models and clinical trials exist. As improving symptomatic outcomes aligns with patient and regulator priorities, co-primary symptomatic (single or aggregate/multidimensional outcome considering function and symptoms beyond pain) and structural/physiological outcomes may be appropriate for these trials. To ensure PTOA prevention trials are relevant and acceptable to all stakeholders, future research should address critical knowledge gaps and challenges.</p

Toward designing human intervention studies to prevent osteoarthritis after knee injury:A report from an interdisciplinary OARSI 2023 workshop

Objective: The global impact of osteoarthritis is growing. Currently no disease modifying osteoarthritis drugs/therapies exist, increasing the need for preventative strategies. Knee injuries have a high prevalence, distinct onset, and strong independent association with post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). Numerous groups are embarking upon research that will culminate in clinical trials to assess the effect of interventions to prevent knee PTOA despite challenges and lack of consensus about trial design in this population. Our objectives were to improve awareness of knee PTOA prevention trial design and discuss state-of-the art methods to address the unique opportunities and challenges of these studies. Design: An international interdisciplinary group developed a workshop, hosted at the 2023 Osteoarthritis Research Society International Congress. Here we summarize the workshop content and outputs, with the goal of moving the field of PTOA prevention trial design forward. Results: Workshop highlights included discussions about target population (considering risk, homogeneity, and possibility of modifying osteoarthritis outcome); target treatment (considering delivery, timing, feasibility and effectiveness); comparators (usual care, placebo), and primary symptomatic outcomes considering surrogates and the importance of knee function and symptoms other than pain to this population. Conclusions: Opportunities to test multimodal PTOA prevention interventions across preclinical models and clinical trials exist. As improving symptomatic outcomes aligns with patient and regulator priorities, co-primary symptomatic (single or aggregate/multidimensional outcome considering function and symptoms beyond pain) and structural/physiological outcomes may be appropriate for these trials. To ensure PTOA prevention trials are relevant and acceptable to all stakeholders, future research should address critical knowledge gaps and challenges.</p