In this paper, a number of strategies to overcome the deleterious effects of salinity on plants will be reviewed; these strategies include using molecular markers and genetic transformation as tools to develop salinity-tolerant genotypes, and some cultural techniques. For more than 12 years, QTL analysis has been attempted in order to understand the genetics of salt tolerance and to deal with component traits in breeding programmes. Despite innovations like better marker systems and improved genetic mapping strategies, the success of marker-assisted selection has been very limited because, in part, of inadequate experimental design. Since salinity is variable in time and space, experimental design must allow the study of genotype×environment interaction. Genetic transformation could become a powerful tool in plant breeding, but the growing knowledge from plant physiology must be integrated with molecular breeding techniques. It has been shown that the expression of several transgenes promotes a higher level of salt tolerance in some species. Despite this promising result, the development of a salt-tolerant cultivar by way of transgenesis has still not been achieved. Future directions in order to overcome the present limitations are proposed. Three cultural techniques have proved useful in tomato to overcome, in part, the effects of salinity: treatment of seedlings with drought or NaCl ameliorates the adaptation of adult plants to salinity; mist applied to tomato plants grown in Mediterranean conditions improves vegetative growth and yield in saline conditions; and grafting tomato cultivars onto appropriate rootstocks could reduce the effects of salinity.

The interlaminar tensile strength of carbon/epoxy laminated curved beams with variable thicknesses is experimentally studied by means of a four-point-bending test. Firstly, the relationships between the used formulae and the results obtained are analyzed on the curved beams with different thicknesses and tested in compliance with ASTM D6415 standard. Secondly, both the interlaminar tensile stresses and the post-failure behaviour are determined. Finally, the critical area, where delamination begins, is reinforced through-the-thickness by means of tufting technology with different densities. The influence on the maximum interlaminar tensile stress as well as delamination evolution of the carbon/epoxy laminated curved beams are analyzed. These results play an important role in the prediction of interlaminar tensile strength and post failure behaviour of laminated curved beams.Peer Reviewe

Plants of tomato cvs Marroquí, Moneymaker and Red Top were grown under four experimental conditions: high temperature (33/23°C, day/night) with summer light (467 nmol m_2s_l) (HTNI), high temperature (33/23°C) with low light (280 |nmol irT2s_l) HTLI), low temperature (27/4°C) with winter light (291 nmol m_2s_l) (LTNI), and low temperature (27/4°C) with low light (175 |imol nT2s_l) (LTLI), to study effects on stigma levels (defined as the difference between pistil length (PL) and stamen length (SL)) and ovule viability, in flowers at five phenological stages of flower-opening. Other plants of the same cultivars were treated by LT during the initial phase of embryo development and compared with controls grown at normal temperatures. In fully opened flowers of ‘Marroquí’ and ‘Moneymaker’, stigma levels were highest under HT, although stigmatic exsertion was significant only in ‘Moneymaker’. Stigma levels of ‘Red Top’ depended little on temperature. Stigma levels produced by LI were higher than those of NI, but illumination.had less effect than temperature. Variations of stigma level with treatment depended more on SL than PL. Exsertion followed treatment only at phenologically advanced stages (petals and sepals open more than 45°). Temperature and light did not affect ovule viability, although HTLI showed least ovule viability. Ovules under HT were significantly more receptive early in development than those under LT. Winter failures of tomato fruit-set appear not to result from effects on stigma level or ovule viability, or by an early interruption of embryo development.