SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the disease COVID-19, contains an RNA genome surrounded by a protein capsid (coat) and a lipid envelope (membrane). Its spike proteins enable it to bind to ACE2 receptors of epithelial cells, allowing it to gain entry. Once inside, the virus hijacks the cellular functions and effectively turns the cell into a virus producing factory, with the synthesis of viral genome and proteins allowing virus particles to assemble and exit the cell. This overall process is representative of what viruses in general accomplish when infecting cells. Based on this information and your understanding of the definition of life, are viruses alive? Please explain. Include the following in your answer: Define the characteristics of life Identify which characteristics (if any) apply to viruses Identify which characteristics (if any) do not apply to viruses Explain your rationale for why viruses are or are not alive Your answer should be a paragraph of at least 4-5 sentences. Note that there is not a single answer to this question, but the point is to demonstrate your understanding of viruses and the definition of life!

Which two types of organisms are exclusively composed of prokaryotic cells?

Lilou Lacroix is a professor at Nice University in France. For the past 25 years, Lilou has lived just over the border in Ventimiglia, Italy. When the university moved to online classes due to technological updates, Lilou became concerned that Nice University was allowing student data to leave the EU without proper safeguards. Lilou can likely take the following action against Nice University:

You are hired as the Chief Privacy Officer of Bear Cubs Delivery, a company based in Chicago, Illinois, which has ten warehouses located throughout the state. After the company’s CEO learns that the U.S. Congress is considering a bill known as the “Bosses Spy No More Act,” which would prohibit employers from utilizing certain surveillance tools that use artificial intelligence, the CEO asks you to review the company’s current employee monitoring practices for any potential violations of existing federal or state laws. After investigating the current practices of the company, you become aware that Bear Cubs Delivery is using an employee-monitoring tool that records the video and audio of employees while on-site at the company’s warehouses. The tool utilizes artificial intelligence to identify the faces of individual employees and then to calculate for each identified employee the daily percentage of conversations that are not work related. Your investigation also reveals that employees who work in the warehouses are not informed of this employee-monitoring tool and only top-level executives receive the reports generated by the tool. Based on your investigation, your response to the CEO is:

A local bakery is known for its artisan sourdough bread, and lately, customer demand has been increasing because the bread was mentioned in a popular food blog.  However, the bakery has limited daily output due to oven capacity. How would this most likely affect the bakery’s pricing in the short term?

The CFO asks a team to compare last quarter’s sales projections with actual sales and identify reasons for any gaps. What business function is performing this task?

A clothing company overproduces a line of winter jackets and still has thousands left in inventory as spring approaches. They decide to sell them at a steep discount. How does this move affect the market?

According to the Commonwealth Fund’s 2025 State Scorecard on Health System Performance, Wisconsin is one of only ten states that have not fully expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As a result, the state continues to experience gaps in health care coverage, especially among low-income adults. Which of the following is the most likely consequence of Wisconsin’s decision not to fully participate in ACA Medicaid expansion?

A public health nurse observes that children from a predominantly low-income, minority neighborhood experience significantly higher hospitalization rates for asthma compared to children in more affluent neighborhoods. These children are more likely to live near industrial zones, attend under-resourced schools, and lack regular access to primary care. The nurse recognizes this as an example of:

100. If one person sells a property to another person and the transfer is recorded, a recorded public history of a specific property is known as a:a. county recorder’s history.b. chain of title.c. public domain history.d. none of the answers are correct.