A feed-forward back-propagation neural network (FBN) was used as a tool for predicting the

growth dynamics of
the microalga Karlodinium veneficum in a culture medium with any specified concentrations
of the key nutrients.
A 3-layered FBN configuration of 27-25-1 nodes was used. This FBN satisfactorily
represented the nonlinear
interactions among all the nutrients of a culture medium containing up to 25 different
components. The FBN
model was trained using the growth dynamics data from more than 420 batch culture
experiments involving
different media compositions. The relative impact of individual nutrients, the initial cell
concentration and the
culture duration on growth profiles were determined through a systematic analysis of the
partitioning of the
FBN connection weights. Microelements and vitamins together had a higher relative impact
on growth compared
to the impact of the macronutrients. The trained FBN successfully predicted the cell
concentration dynamics in
cultures with previously untested initial conditions. The FBN proved to be an excellent tool
for predicting the
growth curves in the range of culture conditions that were relevant to this study
A feed-forward back-propagation neural network (FBN) was used as a tool for predicting the
growth dynamics of
the microalga Karlodinium veneficum in a culture medium with any specified concentrations
of the key nutrients.
A 3-layered FBN configuration of 27-25-1 nodes was used. This FBN satisfactorily
represented the nonlinear
interactions among all the nutrients of a culture medium containing up to 25 different
components. The FBN
model was trained using the growth dynamics data from more than 420 batch culture
experiments involving
different media compositions. The relative impact of individual nutrients, the initial cell
concentration and the
culture duration on growth profiles were determined through a systematic analysis of the
partitioning of the
FBN connection weights. Microelements and vitamins together had a higher relative impact
on growth compared
to the impact of the macronutrients. The trained FBN successfully predicted the cell
concentration dynamics in
cultures with previously untested initial conditions. The FBN proved to be an excellent tool
for predicting the
growth curves in the range of culture conditions that were relevant to this study
A feed-forward back-propagation neural network (FBN) was used as a tool for predicting the
growth dynamics of
the microalga Karlodinium veneficum in a culture medium with any specified concentrations
culture of the cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis, a FBN model satisfactorily predicted the
growth dynamics using the measured data of
concentrations of bicarbonate, phosphate and nitrate [11]. The data set
used in this particular case was too small and overfitting may have
occurred. Overfitting is a common problem with ANNs for small sized
data sets [12].
The FBN is certainly the most frequently used artificial neural network in modeling complex
non-linear systems [13]. FBNs have also
been satisfactorily applied in modeling: of microalgal growth in natural
habitats; the treatment of wastewaters with algal–bacterial mixed
populations in photobioreactors; bioremediation processes; and control
of photobioreactors [14–24]. All previous ANN modeling of microalgal
growth used a reduced number of media components, mainly the concentrations of a few of
the macronutrients, and disregarded the role of
the micronutrients. Models addressing the microalgal growth dynamics
in terms of the entire complement of the media constituents are rare
[10].
This work had the following objectives: (1) to evaluate an FBN to
model the growth dynamics of the dinoflagellate microalga Karlodinium
veneficum in batch cultures; (2) extract from the trained FBN the functional influence of the
nutrients and the inoculum size, on the modeled
responses; and (3) to assess the capability of the FBN to predict qualitative and/or
quantitative impact of the nutritional influences on growth.
The data of hundreds of batch growth experiments originally carried out
for a genetic algorithm-based culture medium optimization [5], were
used to develop, train, validate and test the FBN. The concentrations of
culture of the cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis, a FBN model satisfactorily predicted the growth
dynamics using the measured data of
concentrations of bicarbonate, phosphate and nitrate [11]. The data set
used in this particular case was too small and overfitting may have
occurred. Overfitting is a common problem with ANNs for small sized
data sets [12].
The FBN is certainly the most frequently used artificial neural network in modeling complex non-
linear systems [13]. FBNs have also
been satisfactorily applied in modeling: of microalgal growth in natural
habitats; the treatment of wastewaters with algal–bacterial mixed
populations in photobioreactors; bioremediation processes; and control
of photobioreactors [14–24]. All previous ANN modeling of microalgal
growth used a reduced number of media components, mainly the concentrations of a few of the
macronutrients, and disregarded the role of
the micronutrients. Models addressing the microalgal growth dynamics
in terms of the entire complement of the media constituents are rare
[10].
This work had the following objectives: (1) to evaluate an FBN to
model the growth dynamics of the dinoflagellate microalga Karlodinium
veneficum in batch cultures; (2) extract from the trained FBN the functional influence of the nutrients
and the inoculum size, on the modeled
responses; and (3) to assess the capability of the FBN to predict qualitative and/or quantitative impact
of the nutritional influences on growth.
The data of hundreds of batch growth experiments originally carried out
for a genetic algorithm-based culture medium optimization [5], were
used to develop, train, validate and test the FBN. The concentrations of

culture of the cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis, a FBN model satisfactorily predicted the
growth dynamics using the measured data of
concentrations of bicarbonate, phosphate and nitrate [11]. The data set
used in this particular case was too small and overfitting may have
occurred. Overfitting is a common problem with ANNs for small sized
data sets [12].
The FBN is certainly the most frequently used artificial neural network in modeling complex
non-linear systems [13]. FBNs have also
been satisfactorily applied in modeling: of microalgal growth in natural
habitats; the treatment of wastewaters with algal–bacterial mixed
populations in photobioreactors; bioremediation processes; and control
of photobioreactors [14–24]. All previous ANN modeling of microalgal
growth used a reduced number of media components, mainly the concentrations of a few of
the macronutrients, and disregarded the role of
the micronutrients. Models addressing the microalgal growth dynamics
in terms of the entire complement of the media constituents are rare
[10].
This work had the following objectives: (1) to evaluate an FBN to
model the growth dynamics of the dinoflagellate microalga Karlodinium
veneficum in batch cultures; (2) extract from the trained FBN the functional influence of the
nutrients and the inoculum size, on the modeled
responses; and (3) to assess the capability of the FBN to predict qualitative and/or
quantitative impact of the nutritional influences on growth.
The data of hundreds of batch growth experiments originally carried out
for a genetic algorithm-based culture medium optimization [5], were
used to develop, train, validate and test the FBN. The concentrations of