Changes in pulmonary physiology after lung volume reduction surgery in a rabbit model of emphysema.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of lung volume reduction surgery on pulmonary compliance, airway flow, and helium lung volumes in an elastase-induced emphysema animal model.

Methods: A 15,000-unit bolus of elastase was aerosolized through an endotracheal tube in 14 New Zealand White rabbits to induce emphysema. Stapled lung volume reduction of bilateral upper and middle lobes was performed through a midline sternotomy at 4 weeks after induction of emphysema.

"Doing the month": an exploration of postpartum practices in Chinese women.

An ethnographic approach was used to explore the cultural practices of Hong Kong Chinese women during the postpartum period. Seven multiparous women were interviewed and asked to reflect on their self-care practices within the family home during the month after the birth of their first child. Content analysis was applied to the interviews and major categories identified: good food and bad blood, poisonous sex, dirt and prohibitions, rest and appeasing the placenta god, and competing loyalties.