Rendimiento ex-dividendo como indicador de eficiencia en un mercado emergente: caso colombiano 1999-2007

Se evalúa el rendimiento ex-dividendo en acciones colombianas entre 1999 y 2007, período que incluye la conformación en Julio de 2001 de la Bolsa de Valores de Colombia resultado de la integración de tres bolsas previamente existentes. Contrario a la hipótesis de eficiencia de mercado, se encontraron rendimientos ex-dividendo positivos y estadísticamente significativos, similares a los evidenciados en diversos mercados internacionales. Se comprueba que los rendimientos ex-dividendo no son explicados en su totalidad por costos de transacción ni por efectos impositivos. Una estrategia limitada de captura de dividendos, substrayendo dichos costos, habría entregado rendimientos positivos y económicamente importantes entre 2006 y 2007 en las acciones más liquidas del mercado. Sin embargo, estos rendimientos tienden a disminuir en el período de estudio, consistentes con un avance hacia una mayor eficiencia en el mercado accionario colombiano después de la integración. Este estudio pone de relieve la importancia de considerar las fricciones en estudios académicos de eficiencia y de evaluación de estrategias especulativas.We study the ex-dividend return in the Colombian stock market between 1999 and 2007, period that includes the merger of the former three Colombian stock exchanges in the Bolsa de Valores de Colombia in July 2001. Contrary to the Efficient Market Hypothesis, we found positive and statistically significant ex-dividend returns in the sampled period, only in part explained by transaction cost and tax effects. Moreover, even subtracting transaction costs and tax effects, a dividend capture strategy would have got positive and economically sizable returns between 2006 and 2007 in the most liquid stocks. The decrease of those ex-dividend returns is also reported along the studied period, providing evidence of increasing informational efficiency after the merger of the three stock exchanges. Methodologically, this study highlights the importance of accounting for frictions in both academic efficiency studies and in testing speculative strategies by practitioners

La política coyuntural de la empresa.

La definición de la empresa como un sistema abierto que interactúa con el medio social en el que se desenvuelve exige -como parte del proceso administrativo- la inclusión del análisis del entorno tanto en la evaluación de la gestión realizada como en la definición de objetivos y en la proyección de metas. El entorno mismo puede considerarse bajo distintos ángulos: cultural, político, legal, económico, etc.. En el contexto de esta investigación, el énfasis se centra en el aspecto económico, el cual puede examinarse bajo la perspectiva de la temporalidad según sea de corto o de largo plazo. En el primer caso se hará referencia a las características más inmediatas y seguramente más fluctuantes; se hablará, entonces, de coyuntura económica. En el largo plazo se tendrán en cuenta los factores estructurales o más estables que caracterizan el entorno económico

Time trends in educational inequalities in cancer mortality in Colombia, 1998-2012

Objectives: To evaluate trends in premature cancer mortality in Colombia by educational level in three periods: 1998-2002 with low healthcare insurance coverage, 2003-2007 with rapidly increasing coverage and finally 2008-2012 with almost universal coverage (2008-2012). Setting: Colombian population-based, national secondary mortality data. Participants: We included all (n=188 091) cancer deaths occurring in the age group 20-64 years between 1998 and 2012, excluding only cases with low levels of quality of registration (n=2902, 1.5%). Primary and secondary outcome measures: In this descriptive study, we linked mortality data of ages 20-64 years to census data to obtain age-standardised cancer mortality rates by educational level. Using Poisson regression, we modelled premature mortality by educational level estimating rate ratios (RR), relative index of inequality (RII) and the Slope Index of Inequality (SII). Results: Relative measures showed increased risks of dying among the lower educated compared to the highest educated; this tendency was stronger in women (RRprimary1.49; RRsecondary1.22, both p<0.0001) than in men (RRprimary 1.35; RRsecondary 1.11, both p<0.0001). In absolute terms (SII), cancer caused a difference per 100 000 deaths between the highest and lowest educated of 20.5 in males and 28.5 in females. RII was significantly higher among women and the younger age categories. RII decreased between the first and second periods; afterwards (2008-2012), it increased significantly back to their previous levels. Among women, no significant increases or declines in cancer mortality over time were observed in recent periods in the lowest educated group, whereas strong recent declines were observed in those with secondary education or higher. Conclusions: Educational inequalities in cancer mortality in Colombia are increasing in absolute and relative terms, and are concentrated in young age categories. This trend was not curbed by increases in healthcare insurance coverage. Policymakers should focus on improving equal access to prevention, early detection, diagnostic and treatment facilities

Role of Oxidative Stress in the Pathogenesis of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease:Implications for Prevention and Therapy

Oxidative stress (OxS) is considered a major factor in the pathophysiology of inflammatory chronic liver diseases, including non-alcoholic liver disease (NAFLD). Chronic impairment of lipid metabolism is closely related to alterations of the oxidant/antioxidant balance, which affect metabolism-related organelles, leading to cellular lipotoxicity, lipid peroxidation, chronic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Increased OxS also triggers hepatocytes stress pathways, leading to inflammation and fibrogenesis, contributing to the progression of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The antioxidant response, regulated by the Nrf2/ARE pathway, is a key component in this process and counteracts oxidative stress-induced damage, contributing to the restoration of normal lipid metabolism. Therefore, modulation of the antioxidant response emerges as an interesting target to prevent NAFLD development and progression. This review highlights the link between disturbed lipid metabolism and oxidative stress in the context of NAFLD. In addition, emerging potential therapies based on antioxidant effects and their likely molecular targets are discussed

Bioenergy transition as a strategic mechanism to diversify energy sources in rural areas in Colombia

Received: February 1st, 2023 ; Accepted: May 27th, 2023 ; Published: October 14th, 2023 ; Correspondence: [email protected], [email protected] growth in population has resulted in an increase in the consumption of goods and services, which has led to a surge in waste generation and the use of fossil fuels. To mitigate the envi-ronmental issues associated with improper waste management and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, residual organic matter can be used to produce bioenergy in the form of biogas and biomethane through anaerobic digestion (AD). These biofuels can act as substitutes for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and natural gas (NG) and can be utilized for power and heat generation. In Colombia, the current production of biogas is 4 MW, and the government aims to increase its utilization by promoting the inclusion of biogas and biomethane in the energy matrix through a supportive regulatory framework. Studies suggest that the theoretical energy potential of livestock waste in Colombia is estimated to be 2,673 MW, but the current technological conditions allow for the utilization of only 198 MW, with the pork sector contributing 34%. This study examines the legal context and the present state of biogas in the Colombian energy matrix, while exploring the potential of the Colombian pig farming sector for biogas production. The social, economic, and environmental barriers and opportunities faced by this sector in becoming an energy producer during the transition period are also identified. The findings suggest that biogas presents a sustainable energy solution for rural areas of Colombia where pig farming is a prominent economic activity. Biogas can replace traditional fuels like LPG and firewood for cooking purposes or serve as a complementary source for electricity and thermal energy production in non-interconnected zones. This could mitigate environmental issues and reduce the prevalence of respiratory diseases associated with the use of firewood

Detección de desórdenes de lenguaje de pacientes con enfermedad de Alzheimer usando embebimientos de palabras y características gramaticales

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects the language production and thinking capabilities of patients. The integrity of the brain is destroyed over time by interruptions in the interactions between neuron cells and associated cells required for normal brain functioning. AD comprises deterioration of the communicative skills, which is reflected in deficient speech that usually contains no coherent information, low density of ideas, and poor grammar. Additionally, patients exhibit difficulties to find appropriate words to structure sentences. Multiple ongoing studies aim to detect the disease considering the deterioration of language production in AD patients. Natural Language Processing techniques are employed to detect patterns that can be used to recognize the language impairments of patients. This paper covers advances in pattern recognition with the use of word-embedding and word-frequency features and a new approach with grammar features. We processed transcripts of 98 AD patients and 98 healthy controls in the Pitt Corpus of the Dementia-Bank database. A total of 1200 word-embedding features, 1408 Term Frequency—Inverse Document Frequency features, and 8 grammar features were extracted from the selected transcripts. Three models are proposed based on the separate extraction of such feature sets, and a fourth model is based on an early fusion strategy of the proposed feature sets. All the models were optimized following a Leave-One-Out cross validation strategy. Accuracies of up to 81.7 % were achieved using the early fusion of the three feature sets. Furthermore, we found that, with a small set of grammar features, accuracy values of up to 72.8 % were obtained. The results show that such features are suitable to effectively classify AD patients and healthy controls.La enfermedad de Alzheimer es un desorden neurodegenerativo-progresivo que afecta la producción de lenguaje y las capacidades de pensamiento de los pacientes. La integridad del cerebro es destruida con el paso del tiempo por interrupciones en las interacciones entre neuronas y células, requeridas para su funcionamiento normal. La enfermedad incluye el deterioro de habilidades comunicativas por un habla deficiente, que usualmente contiene información inservible, baja densidad de ideas y habilidades gramaticales. Adicionalmente, los pacientes presentan dificultades para encontrar palabras apropiadas y así estructurar oraciones. Por lo anterior, hay investigaciones en curso que buscan detectar la enfermedad considerando el deterioro de la producción de lenguaje. Así mismo, se están usando técnicas de procesamiento de lenguaje natural para detectar patrones y reconocer las discapacidades del lenguaje de los pacientes. Por su parte, este artículo se enfoca en el uso de características basadas en embebimiento y frecuencia de palabras, además de hacer una nueva aproximación con características gramaticales para clasificar la enfermedad de Alzheimer. Para ello, se consideraron transcripciones de 98 pacientes con Alzheimer y 98 controles sanos del Pitt Corpus incluido en la base de datos Dementia-Bank. Un total de 1200 características de embebimientos de palabras, 1408 características de frecuencia de término inverso vs. frecuencia en documentos, y 8 características gramaticales fueron calculadas. Tres modelos fueron propuestos, basados en la extracción de dichos conjuntos de características por separado y un cuarto modelo fue basado en una estrategia de fusión temprana de los tres conjuntos de características. Los modelos fueron optimizados usando la estrategia de validación cruzada Leave-One-Out. Se alcanzaron tasas de aciertos de hasta 81.7 % usando la fusión temprana de todas las características. Además, se encontró que un pequeño conjunto de características gramaticales logró una tasa de acierto del 72.8 %. Así, los resultados indican que estas características son adecuadas para clasificar de manera efectiva entre pacientes de Alzheimer y controles sanos

Low-cost multi-spectral camera platform for in-flight near real-time vegetation index computation and delivery.

Agricultural optimization and increased productivity is always a growing concern, due to the increasing population. Crops susceptible to a wide variety of hindering conditions, need to be carefully observed and managed to guarantee maximum production. Many diseases, weather changes, soil variances and other in?uencing factors are only visible after the plant has reached a deplorable state and its neighbors closely trailing behind. Ongoing research is enhancing an observation model that can better prevent such factors, but many still present a variety of limiting factors that are still being studied. Vegetation indices is a long dated studied concept that has proven to be able to show plant response to stress before visible signs are present. To take advantage of this we propose a multi-spectral camera, aimed at mass use, to provide the needed observation with top of the line, reliable results. The built prototype was put through two different tests, both showing it capable of displaying plant health. The ?ne control test showed the camera capable of displaying difference in plant health after only two days of stress. The results were reached with out the use of expensive lenses/?lters, and provide easy to interpret results. All while being able to send data to a nearby portable device

Verificación de identidad en la educación virtual mediante análisis biométrico basado en la dinámica del tecleo

Virtual education has become one of the tools most widely used by students at all educational levels, not just because of its convenience and flexibility, but also because it can expand educational coverage. All these benefits also bring along multiple issues in terms of security and reliability in the evaluation the of student’s knowledge because traditional identity verification strategies, such as the combination of username and password, do not guarantee that the student enrolled in the course really takes the exam. Therefore, a system with a different type of verification strategy should be designed to differentiate valid users from impostors. This study proposes a new verification system based on distances computed among Gaussian Mixture Models created with different writing task. The proposed approach is evaluated in two different modalities namely intrusive verification and non-intrusive verification. The intrusive mode provides a false positive rate of around 16 %, while the non-intrusive mode provides a false positive rate of 12 % In addition, the proposed strategy for non-intrusive verification is compared to a work previously reported in the literature and the results show that our approach reduces the equal error rate in about 24.3 %. The implemented strategy does not need additional hardware; only the computer keyboard is required to complete the user verification, which makes the system attractive, flexible, and practical for virtual education platforms.La educación virtual se ha convertido en una de las herramientas más utilizadas por los estudiantes en todos los niveles educativos, no solo por la comodidad y la flexibilidad, sino también por la posibilidad de ampliar la cobertura educativa en una población. Todos estos beneficios traen consigo múltiples problemas de seguridad y confiabilidad a la hora de evaluar el proceso de aprendizaje del estudiante, ya que las estrategias tradicionales de verificación de identidad, como la combinación de nombre de usuario y contraseña, no garantizan que el estudiante matriculado en el curso realmente realice el examen. Por lo tanto, es necesario diseñar un sistema con otro tipo de estrategia de verificación para diferenciar un usuario válido de un impostor. Este estudio propone un nuevo método de verificación, basado en el cálculo de distancias entre los modelos de mezclas gaussianas creados con diferentes tareas de escritura. El enfoque propuesto es evaluado en dos modalidades diferentes llamadas verificación intrusiva y verificación no intrusiva. El modo intrusivo proporciona una tasa de falsos positivos de 16 %, mientras el modo no intrusivo provee una tasa de falsos positivos de 12 %. Además, la estrategia propuesta para verificación no intrusiva es comparada con un trabajo previamente reportado en la literatura y los resultados muestran que nuestro enfoque reduce la tasa de error en aproximadamente un 24.3 %. La estrategia implementada no necesita hardware adicional, solo es requerido el teclado del computador para realizar la verificación, lo que hace que el sistema sea atractivo y flexible para ser usado en plataformas de educación virtual