Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, has increasing incidence, increasing mortality rates, and poses a huge burden on healthcare. None of the currently approved drugs for the treatment of AD influence disease progression. Many clinical trials aiming at inhibiting amyloid plaque formation, increasing amyloid beta clearance, or inhibiting neurofibrillary tangle pathology yielded inconclusive results or failed. Meanwhile, research has identified many interlinked vicious cascades implicating oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and chronic neuroinflammation, and has pointed to novel therapeutic targets such as improving mitochondrial bioenergetics and quality control, diminishing oxidative stress, or modulating the neuroinflammatory pathways. Many novel molecules tested in vitro or in animal models have proven efficient, but their translation into clinic needs further research regarding appropriate doses, delivery routes, and possible side effects. Cell-based therapies and extracellular vesicle-mediated delivery of messenger RNAs and microRNAs seem also promising strategies allowing to target specific signaling pathways, but need further research regarding the most appropriate harvesting and culture methods as well as control of the possible tumorigenic side effects. The rapidly developing area of nanotechnology could improve drug delivery and also be used in early diagnosis.

Aging is the most prominent risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Aging associates with a chronic inflammatory state both in the periphery and in the central nervous system, the evidence thereof and the mechanisms leading to chronic neuroinflammation being discussed. Nonetheless, neuroinflammation is significantly enhanced by the accumulation of amyloid beta and accelerates the progression of Alzheimer’s disease through various pathways discussed in the present review. Decades of clinical trials targeting the 2 abnormal proteins in Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid beta and tau, led to many failures. As such, targeting neuroinflammation via different strategies could prove a valuable therapeutic strategy, although much research is still needed to identify the appropriate time window. Active research focusing on identifying early biomarkers could help translating these novel strategies from bench to bedside.

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease exhibiting the fastest growth in incidence in recent years. As with most neurodegenerative diseases, the pathophysiology is incompletely elucidated, but compelling evidence implicates inflammation, both in the central nervous system and in the periphery, in the initiation and progression of the disease, although it is not yet clear what triggers this inflammatory response and where it begins. Gut dysbiosis seems to be a likely candidate for the initiation of the systemic inflammation. The therapies in current use provide only symptomatic relief, but do not interfere with the disease progression. Nonetheless, animal models have shown promising results with therapies that target various vicious neuroinflammatory cascades. Translating these therapeutic strategies into clinical trials is still in its infancy, and a series of issues, such as the exact timing, identifying biomarkers able to identify Parkinson’s disease in early and pre-symptomatic stages, or the proper indications of genetic testing in the population at large, will need to be settled in future guidelines.

Background and Objectives: Increased and unstructured digital exposure has raised growing concerns about its potential impact on children’s cognitive and behavioral development. Executive functions (EFs)—encompassing attention, working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility—are particularly sensitive to environmental influences during development. Beyond its empirical aim, this study also sought to address a theoretical gap by clarifying how multiple dimensions of digital exposure (quantity, content quality, and sleep-related timing) jointly relate to EF performance, an area insufficiently integrated into current EF frameworks. This study aimed to examine the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of digital exposure in relation to sleep duration and EF performance among Romanian school-aged children and adolescents. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 142 students aged 5–19 years, using standardized cognitive tasks and structured parent questionnaires to assess screen time, digital content type, and sleep duration. Analyses included correlational tests, group comparisons, regression models, and moderation procedures. Results: Higher daily screen time was associated with poorer attention and working-memory performance and shorter nocturnal sleep. Children and adolescents who exceeded the recommended daily screen-time limits performed worse on executive-function measures than those within recommended limits. Digital content type and sleep duration each contributed uniquely to executive performance, and recreational digital content as well as younger age intensified the negative effects of screen exposure. Conclusions: Excessive daily screen time, especially involving passive or recreational content, is associated with poorer EF performance and shorter sleep in children. Adequate sleep and educational or interactive digital engagement may mitigate these effects. The findings underscore the importance of age-appropriate, structured, and balanced digital habits to support healthy cognitive development.

Background/Objectives: Although numerous studies have examined associations between screen time and early language development, less is known about how screen exposure interacts with developmental stage, digital content quality, and parental mediation across childhood and adolescence, particularly with respect to pragmatic communication. This study aimed to address these gaps by examining the joint associations of screen time, content composition, and parental mediation with multiple linguistic and pragmatic domains across a broad age range. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 286 Romanian participants aged 5–19 years, grouped into four developmental stages. Measures included daily screen time, proportion of educational versus recreational content, parental mediation practices, and standardized assessments of vocabulary, verbal fluency, grammatical competence, and pragmatic communication. Analyses included descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, 4 × 3 factorial ANOVAs (age group × screen-time category), and multiple linear regression. Results: Higher levels of screen exposure were consistently associated with lower performance across all linguistic and pragmatic domains (r = −0.19 to −0.28, all p < 0.01). Participants viewing >2 h/day showed significantly weaker outcomes than those with ≤1 h/day, particularly in semantic and phonemic fluency and pragmatic communication (p < 0.001). Educational content correlated positively with linguistic scores, whereas recreational content showed negative associations. Parental mediation emerged as a significant positive predictor. In the regression model (R² = 0.42), age (β = 0.47), parental mediation (β = 0.21), and educational content (β = 0.18) predicted better linguistic performance, while screen time (β = −0.29) predicted lower performance. Conclusions: The findings indicate that associations between digital media use and linguistic and pragmatic performance vary across developmental stages and contextual factors. Rather than screen time alone, digital content quality and parental mediation are associated with differences in communicative performance. These results highlight the value of a nuanced, developmentally informed perspective when considering children’s digital media environments.

Background/Objectives: Distal biceps tendon rupture is a disabling injury that compromises elbow flexion and forearm supination strength, particularly in high-performance athletes. Although several fixation techniques have been proposed, no single method has proven optimal in combining mechanical stability, anatomical restoration, and early functional recovery. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and reproducibility of a hybrid dual-fixation technique combining a Tightrope^® cortical button (Arthrex, Naples, FL, USA) with a PEEK interference screw for anatomic reinsertion of the distal biceps tendon in athletic individuals. Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted on 13 high-performance athletes who underwent distal biceps tendon repair using the hybrid Tightrope–PEEK construct between March 2024 and September 2025. Functional recovery, muscle strength, esthetic contour, and patient satisfaction were evaluated using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Mayo Elbow Performance Score (MEPS), Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand questionnaire (QuickDASH), and a 5-point Likert scale over a 12-month follow-up. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics, version 29.0. Results: All patients achieved secure fixation with no intraoperative or postoperative complications, loss of reduction, or hardware failure. Early controlled mobilization began within the first postoperative week. At 6 months, flexion and supination strength were fully restored, and at 12 months, all patients achieved full range of motion and optimal functional scores (mean MEPS 100; QuickDASH 0). No “Popeye” deformities or contour irregularities were observed, and mean patient satisfaction was 5/5. Conclusions: The hybrid Tightrope–PEEK dual-fixation technique provides excellent mechanical stability, allowing early mobilization and rapid functional recovery with minimal complications. Its reproducibility and cosmetic advantages suggest that it represents a safe and effective option for distal biceps tendon reinsertion in high-demand athletes.