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Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate carbon turnover and half-life in feces and blood from sheep fed on C3 and C4 plant diets, using the stable isotope technique. Eight Santa Ines sheep were randomly distributed between two treatments: the first consisted of animals that were fed alfalfa hay, and the second consisted of animals that were fed corn silage only. Function of time was used to measure carbon turnover rate. At steady state, the half life for carbon isotopic enrichment between food and feces is 1.2 and 1.0 days for alfalfa hay and corn silage treatments, respectively. For blood data collection the time was insufficient to reach the isotope equilibrium level, indicating a slow carbon exchange between diet and blood. It is concluded that blood has a slow turnover, indicating the isotope signal for the former diets. Feces, by contrast, have a quick turnover, indicative of their recent diets. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: European Agenda 2000 considers the integration of environment in CAP and the role farmers can play on natural resources management. Alternative tillage technologies to seed cereals play an important economic and environmental role on the development of a sustainable agriculture and its adoption may depend on the agricultural policy, particularly policies on income support. The results obtained clearly show that the use of alternative soil tillage technologies would be promoted by the change of supports from the first to the second pillar of CAP and we can conclude that, in general, this change will encourage a faster technological adoption. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) was chemically modified by covalent linkage of fatty acid chains to the accessible ϵ-amino groups of the enzyme. This acylation method gave rise to a different enzyme entity (Ac-SOD) as evidenced by different physicochemical properties such as octanol/water partition coefficient and isoelectric point (pI) as compared to SOD. Ac-SOD was incorporated in conventional and long-circulating liposomes (LCL) and characterized in terms of incorporation efficiency, protein to lipid ratio (Prot/Lip), enzymatic activity retention and zeta potential. The observation that Ac-SOD liposomes present enzymatic activity on their external surface indicates that these formulations can act independent of rate and extent of enzyme release as required in case of SOD liposomes. The decrease of superficial charge of liposomal formulations containing Ac-SOD, as compared to SOD liposomes, may be related to the negatively charged enzyme molecules localized on the liposome surface. The comparative characterization of Ac-SOD and SOD liposomal formulations evidenced that the two enzyme forms differ substantially regarding their intraliposomal location: SOD tends to be localized in the internal aqueous spaces, whereas Ac-SOD is expected to be localized in the lipid bilayers of the liposomes, partially buried into the outer surface and exposed to the external medium. These liposomal structures with surface-exposed SOD were designated as Ac-SOD enzymosomes. The properties of these enzymosomes may influence the therapeutic effect, as the release of the enzyme from extravasated vesicles is no longer a necessary requirement for achieving dismutating activity within the inflamed target site. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The decoupling of CAP payments leads production decisions and resources allocation to be more dependent on market prices and competitive advantages. The objective of this paper is to assess the effects of CAP trends on the montado/dehesa traditional ecosystem of Mediterranean regions in terms of farm income, land, labour and capital. A positive mathematical supply model disaggregated by the montado agro-forestry production systems of the Alentejo region in southern Portugal is developed. The results show that decoupling payments of CAP have negative economic effects on agricultural activities and resource use. Agricultural income increases with single farm payments but the foreseen increases in prices do not compensate the loss of the Agenda 2000 area payments in terms of competitiveness. These results reinforce the need to promote alternative agricultural and non-agricultural activities and policies in Mediterranean rural European areas and regions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]