法医DNA分析的其他应用

综述了法医DNA的多种用途,如人死后根据体内DNA变化情况推断死后时间间隔,利用线粒体DNA4977bp的缺失以及端粒的长度推断年龄;利用昆虫mtDNA的细胞色素氧化酶亚基I进行昆虫种属鉴定,以帮助确定人的腐尸死亡时间;利用一些食血昆虫体内的人DNA帮助了解与案件的关系;利用DNA标记进行动物如犬、牛、马及猪等个体识别与亲子鉴定,解决因动物引起的纠纷,或者利用DNA分析嫌疑人周围的动物毛发、植物及土壤微生物等,确定嫌疑人与案件的关系。     

伤熊事件引出的法律思考

伤熊事件反映出若干法律问题。在重点分析阐述罪刑法定原则、刑法第341条的立法不足及我国野生动物保护法律制度滞后的基础上,文章对解决这些问题提出了一些建议。     

A simple and inexpensive molecular method for sexing and identification of the forensic samples of elephant origin

The population of the Asian elephant is being dramatically reduced due to poaching of the ivory from the male. As poaching occurs in remote forests, it often takes weeks or longer for it to be discovered and it is therefore often very difficult to determine the sex of the decomposed body. Data suggest that in the recent past, over 2000 male elephants have been poached in South India. We have developed a technique based on molecular markers to determine that the carcass is an elephant and that it is a male. Using DNA sequence information from Genbank, we have developed two primer pairs: one for the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the other for the sex-determining region of Y chromosome (SRY) gene of the Indian elephant. After PCR amplification of known elephant DNA, we found that the mtDNA was common in both males and females, whereas the SRY-specific amplicon was observed only in the male.     

The animal advocacy movement in the Baltic states: links to other social justice issues and possibilities for intersectional activism

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the animal advocacy movement (AAM) in the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Taking an intersectional perspective, I examine whether and how key animal activists in the Baltics see links between animal rights and other social justice issues. I also consider how the movement communicates its messages to the general public in settings where ideas around animal justice and possibilities for animal advocacy are relatively recent and unfamiliar. This analysis contributes to debates regarding possibilities for intersectional activism and collaboration between social justice movements in the Baltics and beyond.     

Animal-related fatalities--part II: characteristic autopsy findings and variable causes of death associated with envenomation, poisoning, anaphylaxis, asphyxiation, and sepsis

In addition to blunt and sharp trauma, animal-related fatalities may result from envenomation, poisoning, anaphylaxis, asphyxiation, and sepsis. Although the majority of envenomation deaths are caused by hornets, bees, and wasps, the mechanism of death is most often anaphylaxis. Envenomation resulting from the injection of a poison or toxin into a victim occurs with snakes, spiders, and scorpions on land. Marine animal envenomation may result from stings and bites from jellyfish, octopus, stonefish, cone fish, stingrays, and sea snakes. At autopsy, the findings may be extremely subtle, and so a history of exposure is required. Poisoning may also occur from ingesting certain fish, with three main forms of neurotoxin poisoning involving ciguatera, tetrodotoxin ingestion, and paralytic shellfish poisoning. Asphyxiation may follow upper airway occlusion or neck/chest compression by animals, and sepsis may follow bites. Autopsy analysis of cases requires extensive toxinological, toxicological, and biochemical analyses of body fluids.     

论动物福利概念的内涵——动物客体论语境下的分析

动物福利概念基于不同的理论立场而具有不同的内涵。在动物客体论的语境下,界定动物福利概念的内涵时,应该采纳“人道立场的动物福利”的观点。据此,动物福利概念的含义可以表述为：基于人道关怀,（主要是被人类利用）的动物可以满足基本需要的康乐状态。动物权利论者和动物解放论者阐释的动物福利概念既存在理论上的根本缺陷,也不能合理解释现实状况,故不足取。     

破坏野生动物资源类犯罪若干疑难问题研究

破坏野生动物资源类犯罪为法定犯。但由于行政法、刑法以及司法解释关于野生动物犯罪相关规定存在一定的冲突,特别是在动物保护等级、保护对象、升档标准等方面,导致司法实践在法律适用方面存在众多困难。而在司法实践中,关于动物犯罪案件司法鉴定、主观明知、违法性认识、证明标准等方面也存在不同的观点。     

The “killer of the cane fields”: The social construction of the Australian coastal taipan

This paper makes an original contribution to human–animal studies through the application of social construction theory to an iconic species of Australian snake, the coastal taipan. Little research attention using this approach has been focused on reptiles, and this study addresses this gap in the literature. The taipan has achieved a high level of notoriety in Australia. This paper seeks to understand why and how this has occurred. Drawing on a range of data derived from analysis of newspaper articles, popular magazines and books, and the scientific literature, four dominant narratives are identified: the taipan as an object of science and natural history, as social problem, as object quest and as celebrity. The insights gained from this study support the contention that the meanings made of Australia's fauna are fluid, historically contextualised and socially constructed. In the specific case of the taipan, key individuals, including scientists, popular natural historians and snake men contributed greatly to the species’ construction, as did popular cultural forms such as newspapers and natural history books.     

Among a German Sample of Forensic Patients,Previous Animal Abuse Mediates Between Psychopathy and Sadistic Actions

In an attempt to explain the relationship between psychopathy and severe violent behavior, this study associates previous animal abuse, psychopathy, and sadistic acting in forensic patients. Two topics are addressed: (i) whether previous animal abuse can be identified by a patient's Psychopathy Checklist profile and (ii) whether animal abuse statistically mediates between psychopathy and sadistic acting. In a German forensic hospital, 60 patients were investigated. Animal abuse was assessed using face‐to‐face interviews and the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV), and sadistic acting was identified by file records.Discriminant analysis separated previous animal abuse (10/60) by high adolescent antisocial behavior, superficiality, lack of remorse, lack of empathy, and grandiosity. The mediation from psychopathy to sadistic acting (6/60) through animal abuse was found to be complete.The results, although sample size is limited and base rate of animal abuse and sadistic acting are low, fit with a model suggestive of animal abuse as a causal step toward sadistic crimes. Animal abuse correlates with callous, unemotional traits, and a development of sadistic crimes.     

Ignorance is bliss: self-regulation and Ag-Gag laws in the American meat industry

Abstract

In America, we like to say that we live in a democracy. Yet, it is difficult to believe that the majority would allow current practices to continue if citizens knew how the food animals they eat are treated – both during their short lives and during slaughter. The problem is that the citizens don’t know, and it is not a case of willful blindness. Take a moment to recall what you know about our meat industry. Can’t think of much? That is the goal of the meat industry: out of sight, out of mind. In several states, so called ‘Ag-Gag’ laws are designed to keep the truth from the public. In those states, it is a felony to obtain a job with the intent of being a whistle blower. The meat industry knows that if it were to be exposed, the public would demand better treatment of animals, a demand that would decrease profits for the meat industry. This paper will explain these ‘Ag-Gag’ laws in detail, explore their effect on our society, shed light on the practices that the meat industry tries – very successfully – to hide from voters and consumers, and examine the scary results that can occur when an industry is allowed to regulate itself.