Banco de la República Colombia

Economic inequality remains a major obstacle to access to education and has an impact on the learning motivation and academic achievement of underprivileged students. This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of Zakat, Infak, and Sedekah (ZIS) management in improving student motivation and academic achievement. The study employs a qualitative approach with a case study design at SMP Muhammadiyah 3 Purwokerto. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, observations, and documentation, then analyzed using the Miles and Huberman model. The results of the study show that transparent and needs-based ZIS management can reduce barriers to education costs, increase learning motivation, discipline, attendance, and academic achievement of students. ZIS also contributes to strengthening the psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of students. ZIS not only functions as a philanthropic instrument but also as a mechanism for sustainable and equitable educational empowerment.

Abstract Linear state space models provide a useful framework for investigating phenotypic evolution in fossil lineages for a wide variety of models representing Brownian motion, Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes, and the potential influence of environmental covariates. A state space framework also provides access to residuals for the predicted and observed values at each time point as well as improved numerical stability. We illustrate the value of the state space approach by reanalyzing a classic dataset of trait evolution in the diatom lineage Stephanodiscus yellowstonensis. A series of increasingly complex models were fit to these data, including a novel modification of an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model in which a trait tracks an exogenous covariate. These model results suggest that the number of spines on the periphery of the diatom is best explained by adaptation to changing solar insolation over time.

Introduccin: Las transfusiones sanguneas salvan vidas; aunque existen controles como el diligenciamiento de encuesta y la realizacin de pruebas inmunoserolgicas, pueden presentarse riesgos de transmisin de agentes infecciosos.Objetivo: Determinar la seroprevalencia y positividad de marcadores infecciosos en donantes voluntarios y repetitivos de un banco de sangre del

Abstract Unlike genomic data, serological data have not been previously leveraged to evaluate the SARS-CoV-2 variants circulation. In Bolivia, sustained genomic surveillance capacities were lacking especially at the beginning of the pandemic. In 2021 and 2022 we estimated the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Bolivian blood donors and explored the feasibility of using virus serum neutralization data for variants thought to have circulated to map their circulation across all departments over a year-long follow-up period. Anti-S1 and anti-NCP SARS-CoV-2 IgGs were studied, along with virus neutralization tests for ancestral-D614G, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron BA.1 lineages of SARS-CoV-2. Between 2021 and 2022, the overall prevalence of anti-S1 and anti-NCP antibodies increased reaching values over 90%, demonstrating that a large proportion of the Bolivian population was no longer naïve to the virus. Viral neutralization data, analyzed through multiple approaches, revealed the spread of the Gamma variant up to 2021, particularly impacting northern departments. In 2022, Gamma continued to circulate in southernmost departments of the country and the emergence of Omicron BA.1 was detected. These trends align with publicly available genomic data from neighboring countries. Our serological analyses successfully identified both new antigenic groups, such as Omicron BA.1, and individual variants related to previously circulating groups, such as Delta. The study contributes insights into overall population immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and variant-specific immunity levels across different regions of Bolivia. It also emphasizes the potency of seroprevalence studies in informing public health decisions and underscore their value in capturing the initial phases of emerging epidemics when variant diversity is limited, facilitating timely genomic surveillance setup.

The impact of carbon taxes on consumer welfare and emissions in the transportation sector is influenced by both regulatory and market dynamics. As the sources of climate emissions from transportation evolve, how will this impact change in the future? Utilizing extensive data from retail fuel stations and wholesalers in Colombia, we estimate the factors affecting the pass-through of a carbon tax on gasoline prices. Our findings reveal that the pass-through to Colombian consumers is significant, often exceeding one. This phenomenon of ``overshifting" vanishes when markets are regulated or when gas stations are vertically integrated with wholesalers. These results indicate that as the global use of carbon taxes to address climate externalities from automobile use increases, the welfare loss for consumers may be greater than what current literature, often focused on the United States, suggests.