No abstract

In the context of mass vaccination campaigns, the most widely used vaccines in Western countries are based on messenger RNA (mRNA). Some countries have imposed mandatory vaccination and many others have required a vaccination passport to access public transportation and many activities, producing systemic discrimination, social exclusion, segregation, and stigmatization against non-vaccinated individuals. This paper aims to present several scientific uncertainties on which, conscientious objectors to mRNA injections as a preventive treatment for COVID-19, could rely. Scientific data are presented on mRNA vaccines, which consist in mRNAs wrapped in lipid nanoparticles. Never used as a prophylactic drug, artificial mRNAs delivered to our cells forces them to express, against their nature, a biologically active viral protein. Unlike a drug produced in a pharmaceutical factory and formulated at a known dose and a well-defined protein product profile, the mRNA vaccine acts as a pro-drug encoding for the viral Spike protein of the virus to be produced by our own cells; both the dose and the quality of the proteins produced are unknown. We also ignore the distribution of the lipid nanoparticles carrying this mRNA in our body. We consider that the “conscientious objection” raised by the above considerations is a reason enough to refuse mRNA vaccines or similar technologies as a preventive treatment against COVID-19.

. 000. Do female Northern Pintails, Anas acuta, initiate rapid follicular growth during spring migration? Canadian Field-Naturalist 117(4): 605-610.We describe the reproductive status of female Northern Pintails (Anas acuta) staging on a flooded plain along the St. Lawrence River (Quebec, Canada) during the spring of 1997. Nine of the 27 female pintails we collected had ovarian follicles showing Rapid Follicular Growth (RFG). In RFG females, total blood calcium and ash mass increased with follicular development. They had greater muscle and bone mass, and higher blood calcium levels, compared to pre-RFG birds. However, carcass fat mass and sex hormone levels (estradiol and progesterone) did not differ between the two groups. Our results indicate that at least some Northern Pintails initiate egg formation processes prior to arrival at nesting areas, which is consistent with early nesting. The nutrients and energy required for this early egg formation must come from reserves stored during winter, foods consumed in staging areas, or both.