A new high pressure flowing afterglow apparatus with an operational pressure range of 1–20 Torr is described. The new technique has been applied in a room temperature study on the kinetics of the ...clustering reactions NH
4
+·(NH
3)
n
+ NH
3 ⇄ NH
4
+·(NH
3)
n+1
for
n = 0–3. The equilibrium constants and the corresponding changes in standard Gibbs free energy (
ΔG
p
o) for these reactions were derived:
Δ
01
G
p
o = −11.2 kcal mol
−1,
Δ
12
G
p
o = −9.3 kcal mol
−1,
Δ
23
G
p
o = −7.0 kcal mol
−1,
Δ
34
G
p
o = −4.6 kcal mol
−1, where the indices indicate the number of molecules of NH
3 attached to NH
4
+ before and after association.
Effective communication between breast cancer survivors (BCS), their families, and health care providers is critical for emotional adjustment, greater patient and family satisfaction with care, and ...improved health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The purpose of this study was (1) to compare family communication, patient-physician communication, decision making, and HRQOL between Chinese- and Korean-American BCS; and (2) to investigate how family and physician communication and decision making influence HRQOL for Chinese- and Korean-American BCS. A cross-sectional design was used. A total of 157 Chinese- (n = 86) and Korean- American (n = 71) BCS were recruited from the California Cancer Surveillance Program, area hospitals, and community agencies in Los Angeles County. HRQOL was assessed through the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) physical and mental health summary scores. Family and physician communication and decision making were measured by items assessing feelings and attitudes in family communication, perceptions about efficacy in patient-physician communication, and feelings about the treatment choice BCS made. Once controlling for the effects of demographic and medical information, analyses of univariate general linear model showed that there was a significant difference in decision making between Chinese- and Korean-American BCS, indicating Chinese-American BCS were more likely to make effective decisions. However, HRQOL, family communication, and patient-physician communication did not show significant differences between two groups. Structural equation modeling identified that Chinese- and Korean-Americans showed different pathways in family and physician communication, decision making, and HRQOL. For Chinese-Americans, family communication was positively related to patient-physician communication and decision making. For Korean-Americans, patient-physician communication was significantly related to decision making only. Nevertheless, the two groups demonstrated positive relationships between decision making and physical and mental health HRQOL. Different pathways of family and physician communication, and decision making on HRQOL between Chinese- and Korean-American BCS suggest that the impact of communication on family life and health care may be reflective of social, cultural, and environmental contexts.
