Salinity is an important environmental stressor in arid, semi-arid, and coastal regions, primarily due to poor drainage, excessive fertilization, and proximity to the sea. Treating plants with exogenous organic acids may enhance their ability to survive under stressful conditions. In the present experiment, the effects of oxalic acid (OA) on strawberry plant growth and fruit quality were studied under salinity conditions. Day-neutral 'Albion' strawberry cultivar strawberry plants were planted in pots and 1 month after planting, salinity (35 mM Sodium chloride) and OA treatments (2.5, 5, 10 and 20 mM) were carried out. The plants were evaluated 60 days after the treatment's initiation. OA treatments decreased the electrical conductivity (EC) value of the soil under salinity. Salinity stress decreased root:shoot dry weight and the relative growth rate of plant biomass. OA treatments improved leaf cortical cell expansion and xylem conduit diameter under salinity conditions. L-ascorbic acid and malic acid increased with OA treatments. The study revealed that a 10-mM dose of OA was more effective than the other doses, indicating reduced salt stress damage. The results demonstrate that OA can be effectively used in strawberry cultivation under saline conditions.

Salinity is one of the main stresses that negatively affect plant growth and development. The present research aims to reduce the harmful effects of salinity by Chitosan- Selenium nanoparticles. A factorial experiment was arranged based on a randomized completely design with three replicates, and one-year old grafted C. sinensis (cv. Valencia) seedlings imposed to control, and salinity stress by NaCl (100 mM). Two weeks after starting salinity stress the seedlings treated with distillated water (WT), Chitosan (CS; 0.1% W: V), 20 mg L-1 Selenium nanoparticles (Se NPs), and 10 and 20 mg L-1 Chitosan-Selenium (CS/Se NPs). Salinity stress continued about three month to appeared visual salinity stress symptoms. Then, evaluated the growth and biochemical parameters of seedlings, and concentration of elements in leaves. Our result showed, the salinity stress increased accumulation of Sodium (Na) by 112%, while decreased Potassium (K), Zinc (Zn) and Phosphorus (P) by 15, 12 and 28%, respectively in compared to non-saline conditions in leaves. Due to accumulation of Na intense, occurred an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) 39% and Malondialdehyde (MDA) by 118%, damaged cell membrane that appeared as a decrease in membrane stability index (MSI) by 29%. Also, activated the antioxidant system by increase in phenol, flavonoids and anthocyanin, increased osmolyts production such as, soluble carbohydrates (45%) and proline (347%). Furthermore, growth parameters such as leaf number, shoot fresh weight, root and shoot dry weight decreased by 58, 45, 19, and 43%, respectively. On the other hand, foliar spraying with CS/Se NPs (20 mg L-1) under the salinity stress conditions improved the negative effects of salinity stress by decrease in accumulation of Na (19%) and Na/K ratio (21%), due to decrease in the content of ROS (37%) and MDA (20%), and increase in MSI (47%). Finally, improved the growth parameters such as leaf number (268%), fresh weight of roots (32%) and shoots (26%), and dry weight of roots (19%). Our results supported the positive effect of CS/Se NPs application at 20 mgL-1 on managing the negative effects of the salinity stress on the quality of C. sinensis grafted seedlings by reducing Na accumulation and Na/K ratio, protecting against oxidative damage, regulating membrane stability and improving seedling growth.

The precipitation and intrusion of sodium chloride into pavement structures is inevitable in coastal regions, which can affect the mechanical properties of the road base courses. To investigate this problem, samples with sodium chloride solution were cured in a thermostatic chamber until they reached the specified states of sodium chloride precipitation within the pores. A critical crystallization degree (wc) was discovered by computerized tomography scan, corresponding to the start of the formation of porous salt crust cementing the soil particles. A series of unsaturated large-scale triaxial shear tests were then conducted under various states of salt crystallization. The results showed that in the early stages of crystallization (i.e., w wc, owing to the increasing adsorption and cementation effects of the salt crust, rapid growth was observed for the peak stress, internal friction angle, and apparent cohesion of the road base aggregates. Considering the influence of salt precipitation, a modified shear strength criterion that can predict the shear strength of the salinized road base aggregates was formulated.

The phenomenon of salt fog on pottery surfaces attracted our team to study it and explain the reason for its formation. The crystallization of salts during drying leads to pottery damage. A significant step is to examine the types of salt and identify the chemical composition of the sherds. For this visual assessment, a digital microscope and a scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray analyses unit (SEM-EDX) were used to detect surface deterioration. In addition, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses were carried out to determine the chemical composition of potsherds and salts. The microscopic examination revealed a dense distribution of salts on the potsherd surface. Besides, the SEM photomicrographs showed clear cubic salt crystals of sodium chloride, especially after drying. The SEM-EDX analysis also revealed high chloride salt concentration, in addition to silica and aluminum oxide, which are the primary ingredients in pottery-making. According to XRD analysis, the pottery samples primarily contained diopside, hematite, magnetite, albite and muscovite, which are the primary components in manufacturing. Furthermore, halite appeared in large proportions due to the influence of burial soil. Besides, the quartz, clay minerals, hematite and calcite content of the samples were confirmed by FTIR. The results thus support the fact that sodium chloride significantly influences archaeological pottery.

Drug and food industries employ lupine (Lupinus termis). Saline irrigation water is one of the main obstacles to spread of lupine growing in Egypt's reclamation regions. Productivity of plants grown under salty irrigation water can be improved by using silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) or functionalized silica nanoparticles (FSiNPs). Lupine plant can be harmed by saline water, especially if it includes sodium chloride; consequently, it was projected that lupine production would fail in Egypt's reclaimed soil, where sodium chloride-containing groundwater is used as the principal irrigation source. In this work, Si types were applied to the leaves of lupine to aid in their response to sodium chloride in to lessen the damaging effects of sodium chloride on them for increasing their output in the recently reclaimed regions. Si types were applied to lupine leaves at 0, 1, 2 mM SiNPs, and 1, 2 mM FSiNPs with fresh or saline water. Obtained results indicated that there were different improvements in the morphological characters, yield and fixed oil content, when SiNPs or FSiNPs were applied to lupine plants that had been exposed to saline water. In this way, SiNPs or FSiNPs adapted to saline water by increasing photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll a or b and carotenoids), osmolytes (proline, soluble sugars, free amino acids), antioxidant molecules (phe-nols and flavonoids), membrane stability index and antioxidant enzymes (catalase, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and glutathione reductase), while decreasing the values of hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde and electrolyte leakage. However, additions of FSiNPs under saline water performed better than SiNPs x saline water treatments. This study assists farmers in reducing the negative impacts of saline irrigation water on reclaimed fields.