Island life in the Cretaceous - faunal composition, biogeography, evolution, and extinction of land-living vertebrates on the Late Cretaceous European archipelago

The Late Cretaceous was a time of tremendous global change, as the final stages of the Age of Dinosaurs were shaped by climate and sea level fluctuations and witness to marked paleogeographic and faunal changes, before the end-Cretaceous bolide impact. The terrestrial fossil record of Late Cretaceous Europe is becoming increasingly better understood, based largely on intensive fieldwork over the past two decades, promising new insights into latest Cretaceous faunal evolution. We review the terrestrial Late Cretaceous record from Europe and discuss its importance for understanding the paleogeography, ecology, evolution, and extinction of land-dwelling vertebrates. We review the major Late Cretaceous faunas from Austria, Hungary, France, Spain, Portugal, and Romania, as well as more fragmentary records from elsewhere in Europe. We discuss the paleogeographic background and history of assembly of these faunas, and argue that they are comprised of an endemic 'core' supplemented with various immigration waves. These faunas lived on an island archipelago, and we describe how this insular setting led to ecological peculiarities such as low diversity, a preponderance of primitive taxa, and marked changes in morphology (particularly body size dwarfing). We conclude by discussing the importance of the European record in understanding the end-Cretaceous extinction and show that there is no clear evidence that dinosaurs or other groups were undergoing long-term declines in Europe prior to the bolide impact.

European Market Infrastructure Regulation

El trabajo trata de dar unas nociones básicas de la regulación EMIR y de la descripción de la implantación de la solución que toma la empresa en la que trabajé en prácticas. Y lo he realizado en castellano

Fiscal Integration in the European Union : assessment of different proposals

This paper explores the fiscal situation of the European Union as well as the different approaches proposed for achieving fiscal policy coordination among the member states. Furthermore, it works through the need of fiscal integration as a pressing matter in order for the European Union to achieve its aim of functioning as an efficient single market and economic unit. In order to do so, it analyzes the theoretical lines of the Modern Money Theory as a possible framework for further integration, and it evaluates the different proposals made for fiscal integration so that it can give an assessment regarding their compatibility with this theory.

Inserciones Alu y heterogeneidad genética de la población gitana del País Vasco

[ES] En este trabajo se ha analizado un grupo de 6 inserciones Alu autosómicas (ACE, APO, PV92, TPA25, FXIIIB y D1) en una muestra de 56 individuos de etnia gitana residentes en el País Vasco, con el objetivo de estimar la intensidad de los procesos de microdiferenciación experimentados por esta población y su parentesco genético con otras poblaciones europeas y asiáticas. Las inserciones Alu polimórficas son unos marcadores muy útiles en los estudios de evolución humana, entre otras razones porque se conoce su estado ancestral, que es la ausencia de inserción y porque se producen por un único evento mutacional. Son por ello particularmente interesantes para analizar la heterogeneidad genética de poblaciones originarias de diferentes continentes.

Dietary animal and plant protein intakes and their associations with obesity and cardio-metabolic indicators in European adolescents: the HELENA cross-sectional study

Background: Previous studies suggest that dietary protein might play a beneficial role in combating obesity and its related chronic diseases. Total, animal and plant protein intakes and their associations with anthropometry and serum biomarkers in European adolescents using one standardised methodology across European countries are not well documented. Objectives: To evaluate total, animal and plant protein intakes in European adolescents stratified by gender and age, and to investigate their associations with cardio-metabolic indicators (anthropometry and biomarkers). Methods: The current analysis included 1804 randomly selected adolescents participating in the HELENA study (conducted in 2006-2007) aged 12.5-17.5 y (47% males) who completed two non-consecutive computerised 24-h dietary recalls. Associations between animal and plant protein intakes, and anthropometry and serum biomarkers were examined with General linear Model multivariate analysis. Results: Average total protein intake exceeded the recommendations of World Health Organization and European Food Safety Authority. Mean total protein intake was 96 g/d (59% derived from animal protein). Total, animal and plant protein intakes (g/d) were significantly lower in females than in males and total and plant protein intakes were lower in younger participants (12.5-14.9 y). Protein intake was significantly lower in underweight subjects and higher in obese ones; the direction of the relationship was reversed after adjustments for body weight (g/(kg.d)). The inverse association of plant protein intakes was stronger with BMI z-score and body fat percentage (BF%) compared to animal protein intakes. Additionally, BMI and BF% were positively associated with energy percentage of animal protein. Conclusions: This sample of European adolescents appeared to have adequate total protein intake. Our findings suggest that plant protein intakes may play a role in preventing obesity among European adolescents. Further longitudinal studies are needed to investigate the potential beneficial effects observed in this study in the prevention of obesity and related chronic diseases.