Problem: I read this background article the other day: While people have been able to prevent certain viral diseases by vaccinations for many hundreds of years, the development of antiviral drugs to treat viral diseases is a relatively recent development. Antiviral drugs are medications used specifically for treating the symptoms of viral infections. The first antiviral drug was interferon , a substance that is naturally produced by certain immune cells when an infection is detected. Over the past twenty years the development of antiretroviral drugs (also known as antiretroviral therapy, or ART) has increased rapidly. This has been driven by the AIDS epidemic. I am facing a new situation today: Bob was a medical student and he studied drugs administered to people with viral diseases, while his colleague Liam decided to study other types of drugs, such as antibiotics and anticoagulants. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which colleague studied less about vaccinations?

A: Liam

Problem: I read this background article the other day: Consider the antlers of the Irish elk, (often supposed to be far too large; in deer antler size has an allometric relationship to body size). Obviously, antlers serve positively for defence against predators, and to score victories in the annual rut. But they are costly in terms of resource. Their size during the last glacial period presumably depended on the relative gain and loss of reproductive capacity in the population of elks during that time. As another example, camouflage to avoid detection is destroyed when vivid coloration is displayed at mating time. Here the risk to life is counterbalanced by the necessity for reproduction.Stream-dwelling salamanders, such as Caucasian salamander or Gold-striped salamander have very slender, long bodies, perfectly adapted to life at the banks of fast small rivers and mountain brooks. Elongated body protects their larvae from being washed out by current. However, elongated body increases risk of desiccation and decreases dispersal ability of the salamanders; it also negatively affects their fecundity. As a result, fire salamander, less perfectly adapted to the mountain brook habitats, is in general more successful, have a higher fecundity and broader geographic range. I am facing a new situation today: John is a biologist. Last summer, he was studying the evolution of two different salamander species, species A and species B. Species A salamander was Gold-striped salamander while species B salamander was fire salamander. He found it interesting that they took different approaches to adapt to different habitats. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Would species A do better or worse in mountain brooks than species B?

A: better

Problem: I read this background article the other day: The body's second line of defense against pathogens includes the inflammatory response. If bacteria enter the skin through a scrape, the area may become red, warm, and painful. These are signs of inflammation. Inflammation is one way the body reacts to infections or injuries. Inflammation is caused by chemicals that are released when skin or other tissues are damaged. The chemicals cause nearby blood vessels to dilate, or expand. This increases blood flow to the damaged area, which makes the area red and slightly warm. The chemicals also attract white blood cells called neutrophils to the wound and cause them to leak out of blood vessels into the damaged tissue. I am facing a new situation today: After working out in the yard for the day doing various chores, Karen comes back inside to prepare for a shower. While waiting for the shower to heat up, she notices she got one cut on each of her arms. The cut on her left arm is hardly even noticeable, but the one on her right arm is red and easy to see. Karen gets some cream from her cabinet to use on her cuts after she gets done showering. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which arm doesn't have an infected cut?

A: left arm

Problem: I read this background article the other day: Electronegativities generally increase from left to right across a period. This is due to an increase in nuclear charge. Alkali metals have the lowest electronegativities, while halogens have the highest. Because most noble gases do not form compounds, they do not have electronegativities. Note that there is little variation among the transition metals. Electronegativities generally decrease from top to bottom within a group due to the larger atomic size. I am facing a new situation today: John was studying the periodic table. To make things easier for him he divided the table in different sections, section A, section B, section C, and section D. Section A elements are located at the left of the table, but section B elements are located at the right side of the table. Section C elements are located at the top, but section D elements are located at the bottom. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which section would have weaker nulcear charge, section A or section B?

A:
section A