They are effecting matter in their immediate vicinity. If you look at the causes and effects giving results of order the smallest effects should come from the quantum vacuum fluctuations. Their effect would be smaller than any of the other forces effecting these things(so called real matter.)

This slight effect? This vacuum effect what is its purpose? Who ordered that?
The superforce lies in the uniting of all forces together in the vacuum. We can't seperate them in the vacuum.

Can vacuum forces be viewed as a single effect?

I think that the thing that people are messed up with concerning time is that it is an abstract constant, if we measure where we are in time eg: it is 5:00 .. now it is 5:01, that is not time. that is our measurement of what we are representing as a time measurement. just as an object is "here" or "there" but all of the distance in the universe is not measured by "here" or "there" time goes on despite the object experiencing or measuring it. my physics teacher in college posed once by saying "is where am I standing a measurement?" the fact of the matter is that the answer is both yes and no since every point and measurement is relative to infinite space. the larger the space is, the more our measurement is inaccurate and subjective and as a result, a one dimensional point is the most accurate object as it is always the same size.

One thing that is said about measurement is that the measuring device must have the quality being measured. Therefore in this sense a clock is time. Your body is time. Even light has its own clock: 186,282 miles Per Second.

Lights clock in near flat space is going the fastest. I know Einstein didn't want to address the possibility of a fastest time. But I believe it is true.