Microwave propagation experiments, over a short range, demonstrated that the ratio b=c/v of the light velocity c to the observed one v resulted to be less than unity. The various results are here interpreted and compared with the theoretical predictions according to a classical electromagnetic model and to an alternative model based on the assumption of a broken local Lorentz invariance. In any case, the observed superluminal behavior is found to be peculiar to near field

Hair is an ideal tissue for tracing the human health conditions. It can be cut easily and painlessly, and the relative clinical results can give an indication of mineral status and toxic metal accumulation following long-term or even acute exposure. Different authors have found outdoor pollution phenomena, such as the levels, significantly alter metal and metalloid hair contents. This paper investigates the element concentration variability in hair samples collected from a not-exposed teenager, neither environmentally nor professionally. The sampling was carried out for one week, and the samples were collected from different locations on the scalp. A nuclear analytical methodology, i.e., the Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis, is used for determining about 30 elements. Some differences have been found among the samplings as well as between the proximal and distal sections. A deep comparison with other similar studies worldwide present in the literature has been performed for evidencing the relationships and the differences due to different ethnical origins, lifestyles, diets, and climates among the different young populations.

This paper is dedicated to the comparison of the results of two terrestrial scale experiments with the cosmological evidence of the anomalies/asymmetries of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR). The first terrestrial experiment is about the violation of Local Lorentz Invariance (LLI) and the second one is about the emission of neutrons from a steel bar subjected to ultrasounds. Both LLI violation and the neutron emission show a peculiar asymmetry and anisotropy which appear to have an interesting correlation with the direction of some anomalies/anisotropies of CMBR. Besides, it will be shown that the critical energy density of the Universe, as it can be defined by the Friedman equation, is compatible with the energy density of the electromagnetic and gravitational interactions in matter when LLI is violated. It is put forward the idea that this correlation hints at an underlying fundamental anisotropy and asymmetry of the laws of Nature and that in this sense the 'Copernican Principle,' stating that Earth is not a privileged observation point in the Universe, may need a deep revision. Earth would be neither a privileged point of observation in the Universe nor a non-privileged one. Due to this fundamental underlying asymmetry of the laws of nature, it turns out that Earth would be just a point of observation conditioned by natural laws as they appear to be in the area of the universe where Earth is. In this sense, one does not need a spontaneous symmetry breaking in order to describe Nature since the asymmetry is already a fundamental and intrinsic part of it.

Atmospheric pollution is an important task in life sciences and, in particular, inorganic fraction characterization is considered as an important issue in this field. For many years, researchers have focused their attention on the particulate matter fraction below 10 μm: in this case, our attention was also focused on PM_2.5 (i.e., particles with a size fraction smaller than 2.5 μm) and PM₁ (below 1 μm). This paper would like to investigate whether the element accumulation in different granulometric fractions is similar, or whether there are behavior dissimilarities. Among the different analytical techniques, the instrumental neutron activation analysis, an instrumental nuclear method, was used for its peculiarity of investigating the sample without performing any chemical-physical treatment. Forty-two daily samples using the reference method were collected, 15 filters for PM₁₀, 18 for PM_2.5, and 12 for PM₁; the filters, along with primary standards and appropriate standard reference materials, were irradiated at the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) R.C.-Casaccia’s Triga MARK II reactor. The irradiations carried out in the Rabbit and Lazy Susan channels allowed for the investigation of 36 elements and the relative Pearson’s correlations between elements and PM-fractions (PM₁₀ vs. PM_2.5 was good, whereas PM₁₀ vs. PM₁ was the worst). The Enrichment Factors were studied for the three fractions to show how anthropogenic sources have affected the element content. A comparison between these data and element levels determined worldwide showed that our concentrations were lower than those determined in similar scenarios. Furthermore, a statistical approach (source discrimination, hierarchical cluster analysis, principal component analysis) has allowed us to identify similarities between the samples: the airborne filters can be divided in two main groups (i.e., one made of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 filters and one only of PM₁ filters), meaning a different element contribution to this fraction coming from other sources present at the site.