A new penalty-based criterion for model selection in regularized nonlinear models

Many natural complex systems show peculiar behaviors that are reproduced by computational systems with simple microscopic evolution rules. Here a model that was firstly intruduced for the simulation of submicronic particle deposition and deposit growth is adapted as a model for the pulmonary damage caused precisely by such particles. The model allows to specify the structure of the "pulmonary tree" by means of a dimensionless parameter and also the flow pattern of the inhaled particles (due to air drag and diffusion). The model may qualitatively reproduces particle inhalation profiles obtained through detailed simulations. A continuous decrease of pulmonary volume and oxigenation surface is found, presenting "crises" in both magnitudes.