Q1. A 24-year old female automotive technician presents herself at nurse practitioner’s office. She complains of fever and of pain in her left hand. On physical examination, the patient had a deep wound on her left palm that was oozing pus. She had purplish, red streaks running up her left arm. She had enlarged lymph nodes at the elbow and under her arm. The patient’s skin was warm and dry. In her history, the patient had punctured her left palm with a sharp metal from the undercarriage of a “real cherry” 1977 Malibu about a week earlier. She said the wound had bled for a few minutes and she thought that she had washed it “real good” with soap and water. She had covered wound with the large “band-aid” and gone back to work. She developed fever about three days later. For the past couple of days, she “did not feel so good” and had vomiting and diarrhea. What kind of infection do you believe she has in this hand?

a. Streptococcus pyogenes
b. Staphylococcus aureus
c. Clostridium botulinum
d. Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Q2. A pure-breeding pea plant is self-crossed for many generations. A study of resulting plants indicates that the mean maturation time (from planting to maturity) is 77 days with a standard deviation of 2.39 days. Suppose that the breeder selects plants that mature in 69 days for the next generation. Approximation the time required for the next generation to mature.