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Children with cerebral palsy (CP) suffer deficits in their motor, sensory, and cognitive abilities, as well as in their visuospatial competences. In the last years, several authors have tried to correlate the visuospatial abilities with the navigational ones. Given their importance in everyday functions, navigation skills have been deeply studied using increasingly cutting-edge techniques such as virtual reality (VR). However, to our knowledge, there are no studies focused on training using immersive VR (IVR) in children with movement disorders. For this reason, we proposed an IVR training to 35 young participants with CP and conceived to improve their navigation skills in a "simil-real" environment while playing on a dynamic platform. A subgroup performed a part of the training which was specifically dedicated to the use of the allocentric strategy (i.e., looking for landmarks) to navigate the virtual environment. We then compared the children's navigation and spatial skills pre- and post-intervention. All the children improved their visual-spatial abilities; particularly, if the IVR activities specifically trained their ability to look for landmarks and use them to navigate. The results of this work highlight the potential of an IVR training program to increase the navigation abilities of patients with CPs.

The society has become increasingly interested in using natural products over chemicals for cleaning activities. In this study, the cleaning potential of formulations embedded in a hydrogel matrix and composed respectively of essential oils (EOs) of Origanum vulgare, Thymus vulgaris, and Calamintha nepeta, and their respective main active components (EO-ACs), viz., Carvacrol, Thymol, and Pulegone, on a phototropic biofilm growing on granite was investigated. In addition, and for comparative purposes, analysis with the combination of the three EOs, the combination of the three EO-ACs, and Preventol RI-80® (one of the most effective commercial cleaning agents based on quaternary ammonium salts) in all three cases embedded in a hydrogel matrix, as well as only the hydrogel matrix, distilled water, and Preventol RI-80®, in both latter cases applied with brush, were also studied. The cleaning effect of the treatments was assessed immediately after the treatment and after one and two weeks by color spectrophotometry, a reliable tool to evaluate the presence and vitality of the phototrophs and the cleaning effectiveness in granite. C. nepeta and its active component Pulegone proved to be the most effective and yielded similar results, comparable to those of uncolonized granite, and better than those obtained with Preventol RI-80® applied with brush (most common way), especially at the end of the experiment. These promising first results support the suitable use of the phytochemical compounds used on phototrophs field where there are still few published studies and encourage further investigation toward the evaluation of their exhibited biocidal activity