ix ii 4 Conclusion 73 Bibliography 75 iii List of Figures 2.1 (a) Alveolar element for inflation. A s y 0 = V 0 (pop-open volume of an element), A s y T = V distension (volume increase due to elastic wall distension). (b) Alveolar element for deflation. Superscript, d, indicates properties of deflation. (c) Quasi-static inflation-deflation P-V curve. V U = upper volume asymptote (total lung capacity), V L = lower volume asymptote, ∆V (= V U − V L ) = vital lung capacity, P 0 = pressure at the midpoint of P-V curve, P ID = pressure at the intersection of inflationand deflation-curve. (d) P-V curves of Data group 1 and Data group 2 (solid = Before Injury, dotted = After Injury). (e) Normalized distribution of alveolar elements at P = P 0 . Data sets D, J, R,