Although HRV ( Heart Rate Variability) analyses have been carried out for several decades, several limiting factors still make these analyses useless from a clinical point of view. The present paper aims at overcoming some of these limits by introducing the "Life Potential" (BMP), a new mathematical algorithm which seems to exhibit surprising cognitive and predictive capabilities. BMP is defined as a linear combination of five HRV Non-Linear Variables, in turn derived from the thermodynamic formalism of chaotic dynamic systems. The paper presents experimental measurements of BMP (Average Values and Standard Deviations) derived from 1048 Holter tests, matched in age and gender , including a control group of 356 healthy subjects. The main results are: (a) BMP always decreases when the age increases, and its dependence on age and gender is well established; (b) the shape of the age dependence within "healthy people" is different from that found in the general group: this behavior provides evidence of possible illness, and seems to justify the attribute of "life potential". A simplified "standard" procedure is then supplied to compute BMP values for a given subject, whereas BMP dependence on clinical status is now under investigation to make BMP a useful clinical tool.

This work reports the results of the archaeometrical investigation performed on twenty glass tesserae collected in 2018, during the restoration of the Four Seasons mosaic, which dates between the second and the third century AD, in the archaeological area of the S. Aloe quarter in Vibo Valentia (Calabria, Italy). The coloured glass tesserae were analysed through a micro-analytical approach using an Electron Probe Micro Analyser with Wavelength-Dispersive Spectroscopy (EPMA-WDS) and Laser Ablation with Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The aims of the study were (1) the determination of the chemical composition and the technology of glass mosaic tesserae production; (2) the individuation of colouring and opacifying agents used for the production of the glass tesserae. The glasses show the typical soda–lime–silica composition. EPMA-WDS results prove the use of Sn–Pb antimonates to create yellow glass, and of cuprite to obtain the red colour. Copper and cobalt were employed in both green and blue glasses to produce different shades of colour (grey, tints of green, dark and light blue).