La media aritmético geométrica de origene propietati busque generalis numerorum mediorum aritmeticorum-geometricorum

Sean {a, a1, a2, a3, ···} y {b, b1, b2, b3,···} dos sucesiones de cantidades formadas por la ley que los términos correspondientes de las mismas sean medias aritméticas, en el caso de las an, y medias geométricas, en el caso de las bn

Quesos Andino S.A.

Una mañana del 8 de octubre de 1996 se encontraba el grupo de gerentes de «Quesos Andino S.A.» evaluando los resultados de la situación del mercado, entregados por Nielsen. El señor Robert Douglas, Presidente de la Compañía, cuestiona a la Gerentede Mercadeo, señora Stella García, sobre el comportamiento dela participación de mercado en el canal tradicional, con respecto a la competencia. Inmediatamente el señor Darío Espinosa,Gerente Nacional de Ventas, toma la palabra: «Es muy importan-te que usted sepa que la competencia ha incrementado su cobertura de distribución hacia el canal tradicional, mientras que la Compañía continúa con problemas en la calidad de distribución y con productos muy enfocados hacia el canal de autoservicios".

DISEÑO E IMPLEMENTACIÓN BANCO DE PRUEBAS PARA MICROCONTROLADORES EN LENGUAJE DE ALTO NIVEL, DIRIGIDO A ESTUDIANTES DE EDUCACIÓN MEDIA TÉCNICA, INSTITUTOS TÉCNICOS, TECNÓLOGOS Y UNIVERSIDADES

Para entender este proyecto se debe entender que un banco de pruebas es una plataforma para experimentación de proyectos de desarrollo. Los bancos de pruebas brindan una forma de comprobación rigurosa, transparente y repetible de teorías científicas, elementos computacionales, y otras nuevas tecnologías. Este banco de pruebas en particular está dividido en siete módulos diferentes los cuales son, módulo de control LEDs (Light-Emitting Diode), módulo de control con pulsadores, módulo de visualización con display siete segmentos, módulo de visualización con pantalla LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), módulo de control de motor, módulo de control de teclado matricial 3x4, y modulo para multiplexar matriz de LEDs de 7x5. Un microcontrolador (abreviado μC, UC o MCU) es un circuito integrado programable, capaz de ejecutar las órdenes grabadas en su memoria, hoy en día son de gran importancia ya que se utiliza en diversas aplicaciones tanto comercial e industrial. Estos dispositivos los utilizamos diariamente como controles remotos, electrodomésticos y juguetes. Hasta usos mucho menos mundanos como robots industriales, y equipo médico

Payment Systems Report - June of 2019

For the last decade, Banco de la República has provided oversight of the local financial infrastructure as an additional contribution to support the country’s financial stability. This is a function performed by most central banks the world over, because they recognize infrastructure as being an essential component of financial markets. Infrastructure that functions properly helps to maintain and promote financial stability, being that it plays a fundamental role in the financial system and in the economy. In the Colombian case, the oversight of the country’s financial infrastructures began formally a decade ago, when External Resolution 5/2009 was issued and the authority to oversight that infrastructures was given to Banco de la República by its Board of Directors. Since then, the oversight has been formal and systematic. To commemorate ublication of the tenth edition of the Payment Systems Report, which is one of the products of financial infrastructure oversight, a section describing this function is included herein, explaining its need, responsibilities, scope, and activities. On this occasion, in addition to the traditional section providing figures on the local financial infrastructure and describing its behavior (Section One), we have included several highlights that underscore the more relevant aspects of how infrastructure for clearing and settling financial assets has evolved in the last decade. Special emphasis is afforded to the Colombian Central Counterparty Clearing House (CRCC), marking its ten years of operation. There also is a box describing how the company has increased its supply of products for clearing and settlement, and how, as a result, the open positions of its settlement members have performed likewise. At the same time, its risk management model has evolved structurally in response to regulatory adjustments, compliance with international standards, or decisions taken unilaterally by the CRCC, the idea being to have the necessary resources to mitigate exposure to counterparty and liquidity risk. In this way, the CRCC has become a undamentally important player in the Colombian financial market. Therefore, it is appropriate that the CRCC continue to be monitored by the country’s financial authorities. Another box included in this report offers an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of lengthening the cash market settlement period in Colombia, which is another topic of interest. Currently, the clearing and settlement time for a cash transaction in most international markets is two business days (t + 2). In Colombia, nearly all peso/dollar and government and private debt transactions on the spot market are cleared and settled on the same trading day (t + 0). This box analyzes the possible implications of Colombia approximating the international standard. Retail-value payment systems (understood as operations carried out within the circuit of private individuals and companies), such as the use of payment instruments (cash, debit and credit cards, checks and electronic funds transfers), also must be monitored to identify their availability and the public’s preferences for these instruments and their acceptance by commercial establishments. With that in mind, three surveys have been conducted in the last decade to gauge how the use of payment instruments is perceived. A comparison of the findings of these three measurements is presented in a section of this report, and an analysis of that comparison indicates the use of payment instruments other than cash for daily payments is still low. Although their ownership and use by the general public is increasing, their acceptance by some commercial establishments remains limited. In keeping with efforts to oversight innovations in payment processes, the report also includes a box that explores the participation of large, global technology companies in the retail-value payment market. The payment services they offer are associated with innovative payment methods, such as “non-contact” or indirect technology, or by means of devices such as mobile phones, the use of debit and credit cards via applications, and channels such as the mobile network, POS terminals, and the Internet. In other words, these innovations are concentrated in the first stage of the payment process, without altering the other stages, such as traditional payment instruments, channels and systems. Finally, with respect to work in the area of applied research, the fourth section of this report describes how the cryptoasset system operates. It has two fundamental elements. The first is comprised of the agents who participate in the system; namely, cryptoasset users, and the agents who provide them with services. The second includes the digital asset and the underlying technology platform; together they support interaction between the agents in the crypto asset system. As explained in the respective box, the cryptoasset system is not isolated entirely from the financial system, which it pretends do without. In other words, users cannot extract themselves from the traditional financial system as long as cryptoassets have yet to be adopted on a mass scale, which so far assumes there is a connection between both systems. Juan José Echavarría Governo

Payment Systems Report - June of 2021

Banco de la República provides a comprehensive overview of Colombia’s finan¬cial infrastructure in its Payment Systems Report, which is an important product of the work it does to oversee that infrastructure. The figures published in this edition of the report are for the year 2020, a pandemic period in which the con¬tainment measures designed and adopted to alleviate the strain on the health system led to a sharp reduction in economic activity and consumption in Colom¬bia, as was the case in most countries. At the start of the pandemic, the Board of Directors of Banco de la República adopted decisions that were necessary to supply the market with ample liquid¬ity in pesos and US dollars to guarantee market stability, protect the payment system and preserve the supply of credit. The pronounced growth in mone¬tary aggregates reflected an increased preference for liquidity, which Banco de la República addressed at the right time. These decisions were implemented through operations that were cleared and settled via the financial infrastructure. The second section of this report, following the introduction, offers an analysis of how the various financial infrastructures in Colombia have evolved and per¬formed. One of the highlights is the large-value payment system (CUD), which registered more momentum in 2020 than during the previous year, mainly be¬cause of an increase in average daily remunerated deposits made with Banco de la República by the General Directorate of Public Credit and the National Treasury (DGCPTN), as well as more activity in the sell/buy-back market with sovereign debt. Consequently, with more activity in the CUD, the Central Securi¬ties Depository (DCV) experienced an added impetus sparked by an increase in the money market for bonds and securities placed on the primary market by the national government. The value of operations cleared and settled through the Colombian Central Counterparty (CRCC) continues to grow, propelled largely by peso/dollar non-deliverable forward (NDF) contracts. With respect to the CRCC, it is important to note this clearing house has been in charge of managing risks and clearing and settling operations in the peso/dollar spot market since the end of last year, following its merger with the Foreign Exchange Clearing House of Colombia (CCDC). Since the final quarter of 2020, the CRCC has also been re¬sponsible for clearing and settlement in the equities market, which was former¬ly done by the Colombian Stock Exchange (BVC). The third section of this report provides an all-inclusive view of payments in the market for goods and services; namely, transactions carried out by members of the public and non-financial institutions. During the pandemic, inter- and intra-bank electronic funds transfers, which originate mostly with companies, increased in both the number and value of transactions with respect to 2019. However, debit and credit card payments, which are made largely by private citizens, declined compared to 2019. The incidence of payment by check contin¬ue to drop, exhibiting quite a pronounced downward trend during the past last year. To supplement to the information on electronic funds transfers, section three includes a segment (Box 4) characterizing the population with savings and checking accounts, based on data from a survey by Banco de la República con-cerning the perception of the use of payment instruments in 2019. There also is segment (Box 2) on the growth in transactions with a mobile wallet provided by a company specialized in electronic deposits and payments (Sedpe). It shows the number of users and the value of their transactions have increased since the wallet was introduced in late 2017, particularly during the pandemic. In addition, there is a diagnosis of the effects of the pandemic on the payment patterns of the population, based on data related to the use of cash in circu¬lation, payments with electronic instruments, and consumption and consumer confidence. The conclusion is that the collapse in the consumer confidence in¬dex and the drop in private consumption led to changes in the public’s pay¬ment patterns. Credit and debit card purchases were down, while payments for goods and services through electronic funds transfers increased. These findings, coupled with the considerable increase in cash in circulation, might indicate a possible precautionary cash hoarding by individuals and more use of cash as a payment instrument. There is also a segment (in Focus 3) on the major changes introduced in regulations on the retail-value payment system in Colombia, as provided for in Decree 1692 of December 2020. The fourth section of this report refers to the important innovations and tech¬nological changes that have occurred in the retail-value payment system. Four themes are highlighted in this respect. The first is a key point in building the financial infrastructure for instant payments. It involves of the design and im¬plementation of overlay schemes, a technological development that allows the various participants in the payment chain to communicate openly. The result is a high degree of interoperability among the different payment service providers. The second topic explores developments in the international debate on central bank digital currency (CBDC). The purpose is to understand how it could impact the retail-value payment system and the use of cash if it were to be issued. The third topic is related to new forms of payment initiation, such as QR codes, bio¬metrics or near field communication (NFC) technology. These seemingly small changes can have a major impact on the user’s experience with the retail-value payment system. The fourth theme is the growth in payments via mobile tele¬phone and the internet. The report ends in section five with a review of two papers on applied research done at Banco de la República in 2020. The first analyzes the extent of the CRCC’s capital, acknowledging the relevant role this infrastructure has acquired in pro¬viding clearing and settlement services for various financial markets in Colom¬bia. The capital requirements defined for central counterparties in some jurisdic¬tions are explored, and the risks to be hedged are identified from the standpoint of the service these type of institutions offer to the market and those associated with their corporate activity. The CRCC’s capital levels are analyzed in light of what has been observed in the European Union’s regulations, and the conclusion is that the CRCC has a scheme of security rings very similar to those applied internationally and the extent of its capital exceeds what is stipulated in Colombian regulations, being sufficient to hedge other risks. The second study presents an algorithm used to identify and quantify the liquidity sources that CUD’s participants use under normal conditions to meet their daily obligations in the local financial market. This algorithm can be used as a tool to monitor intraday liquidity. Leonardo Villar Gómez Governo

Payment Systems Report - June of 2020

With its annual Payment Systems Report, Banco de la República offers a complete overview of the infrastructure of Colombia’s financial market. Each edition of the report has four objectives: 1) to publicize a consolidated account of how the figures for payment infrastructures have evolved with respect to both financial assets and goods and services; 2) to summarize the issues that are being debated internationally and are of interest to the industry that provides payment clearing and settlement services; 3) to offer the public an explanation of the ideas and concepts behind retail-value payment processes and the trends in retail payments within the circuit of individuals and companies; and 4) to familiarize the public, the industry, and all other financial authorities with the methodological progress that has been achieved through applied research to analyze the stability of payment systems. This edition introduces changes that have been made in the structure of the report, which are intended to make it easier and more enjoyable to read. The initial sections in this edition, which is the eleventh, contain an analysis of the statistics on the evolution and performance of financial market infrastructures. These are understood as multilateral systems wherein the participating entities clear, settle and register payments, securities, derivatives and other financial assets. The large-value payment system (CUD) saw less momentum in 2019 than it did the year before, mainly because of a decline in the amount of secondary market operations for government bonds, both in cash and sell/buy-backs, which was offset by an increase in operations with collective investment funds (CIFs) and Banco de la República’s operations to increase the money supply (repos). Consequently, the Central Securities Depository (DCV) registered less activity, due to fewer negotiations on the secondary market for public debt. This trend was also observed in the private debt market, as evidenced by the decline in the average amounts cleared and settled through the Central Securities Depository of Colombia (Deceval) and in the value of operations with financial derivatives cleared and settled through the Central Counterparty of Colombia (CRCC). Section three offers a comprehensive look at the market for retail-value payments; that is, transactions made by individuals and companies. During 2019, electronic transfers increased, and payments made with debit and credit cards continued to trend upward. In contrast, payments by check continued to decline, although the average daily value was almost four times the value of debit and credit card purchases. The same section contains the results of the fourth survey on how the use of retail-value payment instruments (for usual payments) is perceived. Conducted at the end of 2019, the main purpose of the survey was to identify the availability of these payment instruments, the public’s preferences for them, and their acceptance by merchants. It is worth noting that cash continues to be the instrument most used by the population for usual monthly payments (88.1% with respect to the number of payments and 87.4% in value). However, its use in terms of value has declined, having registered 89.6% in the 2017 survey. In turn, the level of acceptance by merchants of payment instruments other than cash is 14.1% for debit cards, 13.4% for credit cards, 8.2% for electronic transfers of funds and 1.8% for checks. The main reason for the use of cash is the absence of point-of-sale terminals at commercial establishments. Considering that the retail-payment market worldwide is influenced by constant innovation in payment services, by the modernization of clearing and settlement systems, and by the efforts of regulators to redefine the payment industry for the future, these trends are addressed in the fourth section of the report. There is an account of how innovations in technology-based financial payment services have developed, and it shows that while this topic is not new, it has evolved, particularly in terms of origin and vocation. One of the boxes that accompanies the fourth section deals with certain payment aspects of open banking and international experience in that regard, which has given the customers of a financial entity sovereignty over their data, allowing them, under transparent and secure conditions, to authorize a third party, other than their financial entity, to request information on their accounts with financial entities, thus enabling the third party to offer various financial services or initiate payments. Innovation also has sparked interest among international organizations, central banks, and research groups concerning the creation of digital currencies. Accordingly, the last box deals with the recent international debate on issuance of central bank digital currencies. In terms of the methodological progress that has been made, it is important to underscore the work that has been done on the role of central counterparties (CCPs) in mitigating liquidity and counterparty risk. The fifth section of the report offers an explanation of a document in which the work of CCPs in financial markets is analyzed and corroborated through an exercise that was built around the Central Counterparty of Colombia (CRCC) in the Colombian market for non-delivery peso-dollar forward exchange transactions, using the methodology of network topology. The results provide empirical support for the different theoretical models developed to study the effect of CCPs on financial markets. Finally, the results of research using artificial intelligence with information from the large-value payment system are presented. Based on the payments made among financial institutions in the large-value payment system, a methodology is used to compare different payment networks, as well as to determine which ones can be considered abnormal. The methodology shows signs that indicate when a network moves away from its historical trend, so it can be studied and monitored. A methodology similar to the one applied to classify images is used to make this comparison, the idea being to extract the main characteristics of the networks and use them as a parameter for comparison. Juan José Echavarría Governo

Reporte de Sistemas de Pago - Junio de 2021

El Banco de la República, con el Reporte de Sistemas de Pago, entrega un panorama completo de la infraestructura financiera local, siendo este un producto importante de la labor de seguimiento a dicha infraestructura. Las cifras contenidas en este reporte corresponden al año 2020, período de pandemia durante el cual las medidas de confinamiento para aliviar la tensión sobre el sistema de salud generaron para Colombia, al igual que en la mayoría de los países, una fuerte reducción de la actividad económica y el consumo. Desde el comienzo de la pandemia, la Junta Directiva del Banco de la República adoptó las decisiones necesarias para otorgar al mercado amplia liquidez en pesos y dólares, garantizar la estabilidad de los mercados, proteger el sistema de pagos y preservar la oferta de crédito. El pronunciado crecimiento de los agregados monetarios reflejó la mayor preferencia por liquidez, la cual fue atendida oportunamente por el Banco de la República. Las decisiones adoptadas se realizaron mediante diferentes operaciones, las cuales fueron compensadas y liquidadas en la infraestructura financiera. Después de la introducción, la segunda sección del presente reporte de pagos analiza la evolución y el desempeño de las diferentes infraestructuras financieras. Se destaca que el sistema de pagos de alto valor CUD registró en 2020 un mayor dinamismo que el año anterior, principalmente por el aumento de los depósitos remunerados que en promedio diario realizó la Dirección General de Crédito Público y del Tesoro Nacional (DGCPTN) con el Banco de República, así como una mayor actividad del mercado de simultáneas de deuda pública. Consecuentemente con el crecimiento de la actividad en el CUD, el Depósito Central de Valores (DCV) registró una mayor actividad por el aumento del mercado monetario de deuda pública y por las colocaciones por parte del Gobierno Nacional en el mercado primario. El valor de las operaciones compensadas y liquidadas por intermedio de la Cámara de Riesgo Central de Contraparte (CRCC) continúa creciendo, jalonado principalmente por los contratos non delivery forward (NDF) peso/dólar. Con respecto a la CRCC, es oportuno mencionar que a partir de finales del año pasado esta cámara se encarga de administrar los riesgos y de compensar y liquidar las operaciones del mercado de contado peso/dólar, debido a la fusión con la Cámara de Compensación de Divisas de Colombia (CCDC). Así mismo, a partir del último trimestre del año 2020 la CRCC se encarga de compensar y liquidar el mercado de renta variable, labor que venía desempeñando la Bolsa de Valores de Colombia (BVC). En la sección tres se entrega una visión integral de los pagos en el mercado de bienes y servicios, es decir, de las transacciones efectuadas en el circuito de personas naturales y empresas no financieras. Durante la pandemia las transferencias electrónicas inter e intrabancarias, que en su mayoría son originadas por empresas, registraron un incremento tanto en número como en valor de operaciones frente a 2019. Por su parte, los pagos con tarjetas débito y crédito originados principalmente por personas naturales mostraron un comportamiento decreciente con respecto a 2019. Los pagos realizados con cheques siguen disminuyendo, presentando una tendencia a la baja muy pronunciada en el último año. Como complemento a la información sobre transferencias electrónicas, el reporte incluye en esta sección un sombreado sobre la caracterización de la población con cuenta de ahorro y corriente, empleando los datos de la encuesta del Banco de la República sobre percepción de uso de los instrumentos de pago en 2019. Se incluye también un recuadro sobre la evolución transaccional de una billetera móvil provista por una sociedad especializada en depósitos y pagos electrónicos (Sedpe), mostrando que desde su creación a finales del año 2017 ha incremento en el número de usuarios y el valor de las transacciones, con especial velocidad durante la pandemia. Adicionalmente, se presenta un diagnóstico sobre los efectos de la pandemia en los patrones de pago de la población, fundamentado en datos sobre el uso del efectivo en circulación, sobre los pagos con instrumentos electrónicos, y sobre el consumo y la confianza del consumidor. Se concluye que el desplome en el índice de confianza del consumidor y la caída en el consumo privado dieron lugar a cambios en los patrones de pago de las personas. Las compras con tarjetas de crédito y débito disminuyeron, mientras que los pagos por bienes y servicios mediante transferencia electrónica aumentaron. Estos resultados, junto con el considerable aumento del efectivo en circulación, podrían proveer indicios a favor de un posible atesoramiento del papel moneda con motivo precaución por parte de las personas y de un mayor uso del efectivo como instrumento de pago. Se incluye, además, un recuadro que presenta los principales cambios que se introdujeron en la regulación del sistema de pagos de bajo valor en el país mediante la expedición del Decreto 1692 de diciembre de 2020. La cuarta sección se refiere a las importantes innovaciones y cambios tecnológicos que se han observado en el sistema de pagos al por menor. Se destacan cuatro temas en esta línea. El primero se constituye en un punto clave para la construcción de la infraestructura financiera de pagos inmediatos. Consiste en el diseño e implementación de los llamados esquemas superpuestos, los cuales son un desarrollo tecnológico que permite una comunicación abierta entre los diferentes agentes de la cadena de pagos, logrando una alta interoperabilidad entre diferentes proveedores de servicios de pago. El segundo tema explora los avances en el debate internacional sobre la emisión de moneda digital por parte de los bancos centrales (CBDC por su sigla en inglés), con el fin de entender su posible impacto en el sistema de pagos de bajo valor y en el uso del efectivo. El tercer tema está relacionado con nuevas formas de iniciación de pagos, tales como los códigos QR, la biometría o la tecnología de comunicación de campos cercanos (NCF por su sigla en inglés). Estos cambios, aparentemente pequeños, pueden tener efectos importantes en la experiencia del usuario con el sistema de pagos de bajo valor. El cuarto tema, finalmente, es el crecimiento de los pagos vinculados con la telefonía móvil y el internet. El reporte finaliza en la sección cinco con una reseña de dos trabajos de investigación aplicada realizados en el Banco de la República en el año 2020. El primero analiza el nivel patrimonial de la CRCC, reconociendo el rol relevante que esta infraestructura ha adquirido en la compensación y liquidación de varios mercados financieros en el país. Se exploran los requerimientos de capital para las entidades de contrapartida central establecidos en algunas jurisdicciones, se identifican los riesgos que se busca cubrir desde la perspectiva del servicio que este tipo de entidades ofrece al mercado y aquellos asociados a su actividad corporativa. Se analizan los niveles patrimoniales de la CRCC a partir de lo observado en la regulación de la Unión Europea y se concluye que la CRCC cuenta con un esquema de anillos de seguridad muy similar al observado en la experiencia internacional y que su nivel patrimonial es superior al exigido por la regulación colombiana, siendo suficiente para cubrir otros riesgos. El segundo trabajo de investigación identifica y cuantifica las fuentes que utilizan las entidades participantes en el CUD para cumplir con sus obligaciones diarias contraídas en el mercado financiero local, y con su uso como herramienta de monitoreo de la liquidez intradía en condiciones normales. Leonardo Villar Gómez Gerente Genera

Canagliflozin and Cardiovascular and Renal Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Chronic Kidney Disease in Primary and Secondary Cardiovascular Prevention Groups

Background: Canagliflozin reduces the risk of kidney failure in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease, but effects on specific cardiovascular outcomes are uncertain, as are effects in people without previous cardiovascular disease (primary prevention). Methods: In CREDENCE (Canagliflozin and Renal Events in Diabetes With Established Nephropathy Clinical Evaluation), 4401 participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease were randomly assigned to canagliflozin or placebo on a background of optimized standard of care. Results: Primary prevention participants (n=2181, 49.6%) were younger (61 versus 65 years), were more often female (37% versus 31%), and had shorter duration of diabetes mellitus (15 years versus 16 years) compared with secondary prevention participants (n=2220, 50.4%). Canagliflozin reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events overall (hazard ratio [HR], 0.80 [95% CI, 0.67-0.95]; P=0.01), with consistent reductions in both the primary (HR, 0.68 [95% CI, 0.49-0.94]) and secondary (HR, 0.85 [95% CI, 0.69-1.06]) prevention groups (P for interaction=0.25). Effects were also similar for the components of the composite including cardiovascular death (HR, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.61-1.00]), nonfatal myocardial infarction (HR, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.59-1.10]), and nonfatal stroke (HR, 0.80 [95% CI, 0.56-1.15]). The risk of the primary composite renal outcome and the composite of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure were also consistently reduced in both the primary and secondary prevention groups (P for interaction >0.5 for each outcome). Conclusions: Canagliflozin significantly reduced major cardiovascular events and kidney failure in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease, including in participants who did not have previous cardiovascular disease

Canagliflozin and renal outcomes in type 2 diabetes and nephropathy

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of kidney failure worldwide, but few effective long-term treatments are available. In cardiovascular trials of inhibitors of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), exploratory results have suggested that such drugs may improve renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS In this double-blind, randomized trial, we assigned patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuric chronic kidney disease to receive canagliflozin, an oral SGLT2 inhibitor, at a dose of 100 mg daily or placebo. All the patients had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 30 to <90 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 of body-surface area and albuminuria (ratio of albumin [mg] to creatinine [g], >300 to 5000) and were treated with renin–angiotensin system blockade. The primary outcome was a composite of end-stage kidney disease (dialysis, transplantation, or a sustained estimated GFR of <15 ml per minute per 1.73 m2), a doubling of the serum creatinine level, or death from renal or cardiovascular causes. Prespecified secondary outcomes were tested hierarchically. RESULTS The trial was stopped early after a planned interim analysis on the recommendation of the data and safety monitoring committee. At that time, 4401 patients had undergone randomization, with a median follow-up of 2.62 years. The relative risk of the primary outcome was 30% lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group, with event rates of 43.2 and 61.2 per 1000 patient-years, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59 to 0.82; P=0.00001). The relative risk of the renal-specific composite of end-stage kidney disease, a doubling of the creatinine level, or death from renal causes was lower by 34% (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.81; P<0.001), and the relative risk of end-stage kidney disease was lower by 32% (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.86; P=0.002). The canagliflozin group also had a lower risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.95; P=0.01) and hospitalization for heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.80; P<0.001). There were no significant differences in rates of amputation or fracture. CONCLUSIONS In patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, the risk of kidney failure and cardiovascular events was lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group at a median follow-up of 2.62 years

Caso de estudio. Quesos Andino S.A.

Una mañana del 8 de octubre de 1996 se encontraba el grupo de gerentes de «Quesos Andino S.A.» evaluando los resultados de la situación del mercado, entregados por Nielsen. El señor Robert Douglas, Presidente de la Compañía, cuestiona a la Gerentede Mercadeo, señora Stella García, sobre el comportamiento dela participación de mercado en el canal tradicional, con respecto a la competencia. Inmediatamente el señor Darío Espinosa,Gerente Nacional de Ventas, toma la palabra: «Es muy importan-te que usted sepa que la competencia ha incrementado su cobertura de distribución hacia el canal tradicional, mientras que la Compañía continúa con problemas en la calidad de distribución y con productos muy enfocados hacia el canal de autoservicios"