The Virtual Nose: Assessment of Static Nasal Airway Obstruction Using Computational Simulations and 3D-Printed Models

BACKGROUND: The use of virtual noses to predict the outcome of surgery is of increasing interests, particularly, as detailed and objective pre- and postoperative assessments of nasal airway obstruction (NAO) are difficult to perform. The objective of this article is to validate predictions using virtual noses against their experimentally measured counterpart in rigid 3D-printed models. METHODS: Virtual nose models, with and without NAO, were reconstructed from patients' cone beam computed tomography scans, and used to evaluate airflow characteristics through computational fluid dynamics simulations. Prototypes of the reconstructed models were 3D printed and instrumented experimentally for pressure measurements. RESULTS: Correlation between the numerical predictions and experimental measurements was shown. Analysis of the flow field indicated that the NAO in the nasal valve increases significantly the wall pressure, shear stress, and incremental nasal resistance behind the obstruction. CONCLUSIONS: Airflow predictions in static virtual noses correlate well with detailed experimental measurements on 3D-printed replicas of patient airways

Search for supersymmetry with multiple charged leptons in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV

Results are reported from a search for physics beyond-the-standard-model, such as supersymmetry, in final states with at least three charged leptons, in any combination of electrons or muons. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV, recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2015. Two jets are required in each event, providing good sensitivity to strong production of gluinos and squarks. The search regions, sensitive to a range of different supersymmetry scenarios, are defined using the number of jets tagged as originating from bottom quarks, the sum of the magnitudes of the transverse momenta of the jets, the imbalance in the overall transverse momentum in the event, and the invariant mass of opposite-sign, same-flavor lepton pairs. The event yields observed in data are consistent with the expected background contributions from standard model processes. These results are used to derive limits in terms of R-parity conserving simplified models of supersymmetry that describe strong production of gluinos and squarks. Model-independent limits are presented to facilitate the reinterpretation of the results in a broad range of scenarios for physics beyond the standard model