宗教领域的人权问题

宗教和人权的冲突使人类陷入纠缠不清的道德困境,也因此成为重大的国际伦理问题.事实上,宗教只不过是人的创造物,宗教的普遍性价值形式正是人的普遍性价值形式.由于人权是人人应当享有的普遍性道德权利,因此人权就是宗教的价值基准:任何践踏人权的教义和宗教行为都是恶,任何尊重人权、保障人权的宗教行为都是善.这就是宗教领域的人权的基本要求,其底线伦理是:人人应当享有祛除苦难的权利.它具体展开为尊重平等的伦理精神,并把这种伦理精神一以贯之地融入商谈理解的基本程序之中,切实依靠以伦理责任为要义的法律制度,以有效保障其具体实践和应用.     

Evaluation of the DNA stability of forensic markers used in betel-quid chewers' oral swab samples and oral cancerous specimens: implications for forensic application

Chewed betel-quid (BQ) residues are often considered vital biological evidence at crime scenes, since the human DNA extracted from the residues is actually from buccal epithelial cells and can be associated with suspects. BQ-chewing is also a risk factor for oral diseases and/or cancers. Archived medical oral-specimens can be used to identify specific individuals under adverse conditions, although STR markers are known to be unstable in various tumor tissues. This study evaluates the DNA stability of forensic marker systems in BQ-chewers' oral epithelial cells, and in archived clinical specimens of oral cancer patients. The genotypes of oral and paired peripheral blood samples in 200 subjects were compared, using the commercialized typing systems of HLA-DQA1, PM (including LDLR, GYPA, HBGG, D7S8, and GC loci), and AmpFlSTR markers (including 9 STR loci and the Amelogenin gene). The 100 healthy BQ-chewers had consistent oral swab and paired blood sample genotypes analyzed withboth DQA1/PM and STR marker systems. In the 100 oral cancer patients, one discordant result at D7S8 was found in the 600DQA1/PM-marker loci, and 25 allelic alterations with expansion or contraction were detected in the 900 STR loci. The findings herein suggest that when cancerous specimens were tested, the HLA-DQA1/PM system with point polymorphism appears more reliable than the STR system with length polymorphism. Our results also indicate that healthy BQ-chewers' oral cotton swabs containing buccal epithelial cells are useful for forensic purposes using the HLA-DQA1, PM, and STR marker systems.     

Mitochondrial DNA sequence alterations observed between blood and buccal cells within the same individuals having betel quid (BQ)-chewing habit

There are hundreds of millions of betel quid (BQ) lovers widely spreading around the world. Compositions in BQ may generate reactive oxygen species, which would induce DNA damage. However, oral epithelial cells as well as blood have often been used as reference samples in comparison with the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence of hairs. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of mtDNA sequence variation in regular BQ-chewers' oral epithelial cells, and thus to evaluate the forensic availability of the buccal cells from BQ-chewers using the mtDNA markers. The hypervariable segments I and II in the D-loop control region of mtDNA between paired samples of blood and buccal scrape cells from 75 non-BQ-chewers (to be a control group), 60 BQ-chewers, and 67 oral cancerous patients were DNA sequenced and compared. Among the three groups, the alteration rates of 1.3% (1 out of 75), 10% (6 out of 60), and 61% (41 out of 67) were identified from the control, BQ-chewers, and the cancerous group, respectively. In the cancerous group, as expected, high rate of DNA alteration between blood and buccal samples was found. In the BQ-chewers, one and five individuals had the length and point alterations, respectively. Interestingly, most of point alteration sites, e.g., mtDNA positions 153, 16189, 16093 identified from BQ-chewers, were also observed in previous literatures. As for the control subjects, one case with point alteration, and none with length alteration, was identified. For all the three groups, not only the oral cells but also the normal blood samples exhibited high frequency (>55%) of length heteroplasmy at poly-(C)n track. Statistical analyses revealed that significance was observed between the severity of mtDNA alteration in BQ-chewers' oral epithelial cells and the history of BQ-chewing (p = 0.02), with a tendency of positive association. Based on the guidelines by Carracedo et al., we suggest that the interpretation of mtDNA variations between criminal evidences and the oral epithelial cells (as a reference or known sample) from BQ-chewers should be performed with particular caution using the PCR-based mtDNA sequencing. Our findings would be valuable in mtDNA analysis of hair evidence, especially for those countries where the habit of BQ-chewing is popular.     

林权改革要慎之又慎

有人称林权改革为第二次土地革命,其重要性及其深远意义不言而喻。而改革就有成功,也可能有失败,或者兼而有之。把林权改革纳入法制化轨道,是改革成功的最有力保障。     

Two Intellectual Paths That Cross the Borders: Nguyen Huy Quy,Phan Van Cac,and Humanities in Vietnam’s Chinese Studies

The intellectual paths of two Vietnamese sinologists, Nguyen Huy Quy and Phan Van Cac, tell a distinctive history of Confucian scholarship in Vietnam. Through their intellectual growth, we hope to show how humanities have survived political upheavals of and between the two countries and returned in the process of national reform. The perseverance of humanist concerns demonstrates the relevance of individual determination in the evolution of Vietnamese scholarship on China, indicating an epistemological agency to transcend politics. Three particular aspects emerge as critical in the evolution of their scholarship: family, travelling, and determination. The mechanisms of historical cycles, strategic silencing, self-learning, and human judgment connect the individual paths to the larger historical context of Vietnamese sinology.