Publications by authors named "Razvan G Romanescu"

Article Synopsis
  • The study examined the short-term effects of an educational workshop paired with either an outdoor walking group or weekly reminders on older adults' outdoor walking and overall well-being.
  • It involved a randomized controlled trial with 190 community-dwelling seniors, dividing them between a 10-week outdoor walk group and those receiving weekly reminders after an educational session.
  • Results showed no significant difference in outdoor walking minutes between groups at various time points, although the outdoor walking group exhibited improvements in walking capacity after the initial phase.
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Classical compartmental models of infectious disease assume that spread occurs through a homogeneous population. This produces poor fits to real data, because individuals vary in their number of epidemiologically-relevant contacts, and hence in their ability to transmit disease. In particular, network theory suggests that super-spreading events tend to happen more often at the beginning of an epidemic, which is inconsistent with the homogeneity assumption.

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Background: This study investigated prevalence of psychological distress, factors associated with distress, and experiences of Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also compared distress in this group to previously surveyed Canadian AYAs with cancer in 2018 by the Young Adults with Cancer in their Prime (YACPRIME) study.

Methods: A cross-sectional, online, self-administered survey of AYAs diagnosed with cancer between 15 and 39 years of age was conducted.

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Background: Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) diagnosed with cancer are at an increased risk of experiencing social isolation and loneliness secondary to their cancer and its treatment. The physical distancing measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic may have further increased loneliness among this group. This study examined the prevalence of loneliness and factors associated with loneliness among AYAs with cancer during this pandemic.

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This study aimed to assess the sources of COVID-19 information used, behavioral changes in response to the pandemic, and factors associated with adherence to social distancing guidelines among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a self-administered online survey of AYAs with cancer (aged 18-39 years) diagnosed between ages 15 and 39 and living in Canada during January and February 2021. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics.

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We aimed to describe the negative and positive impacts of changes in cancer care delivery due to COVID-19 pandemic for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) in Canada, as well as the correlates of negative impact and their perspectives on optimization of cancer care. We conducted an online, self-administered survey of AYAs with cancer living in Canada between January and February 2021. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with a negative impact on cancer care.

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Next generation sequencing technologies have made it possible to investigate the role of rare variants (RVs) in disease etiology. Because RVs associated with disease susceptibility tend to be enriched in families with affected individuals, study designs based on affected sib pairs (ASP) can be more powerful than case-control studies. We construct tests of RV-set association in ASPs for single genomic regions as well as for multiple regions.

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Background: There has been significant interest in investigating genome-wide and epigenome-wide associations with lipids. Testing at the gene or region level may improve power in such studies.

Methods: We analyze chromosome 11 cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) methylation levels and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes from the original Genetics of Lipid Lowering Drugs and Diet Network (GOLDN) study, aiming to explore the association between triglyceride levels and genetic/epigenetic factors.

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