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Water Science & Technology Vol 55 No 8-9 pp 257–264 © IWA Publishing 2007 doi:10.2166/wst.2007.266 Stochastic modeling for characterisation of biofilm development with discrete detachment events (sloughing)A. Bohn*, B. Zippel**, J.S. Almeida*,*** and J.B. Xavier**Biomathematics Group, Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, R Quinta Grande 6, 2780-156 , Oeiras, Portugal (E-mail: abohn@itqb.unl.pt; jxavier@itqb.unl.pt)**Department of River Ecology, UFZ Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle, Brückstr. 3a, 39114 , Magdeburg, Germany (E-mail: barbara.zippel@ufz.de) ***Department of Biostatistics and Applied Mathematics, University of Texas MDAnderson Cancer Center – unit 447, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77030-4009, USA (E-mail: jalmeida@mdanderson.org) ABSTRACT The monitoring of biofilm development at a small-scale is often observed to be a stochastic process. This raises important issues concerning the reproducibility of biofilm growth monitoring experiments. By realising that there are limits to the latter, a model of biofilm accumulation curves that takes into account the dynamics of seemingly random fluctuations resulting from sloughing events is proposed. The model is derived from a stochastic differential equation (SDE) based on the logistic equation, adding a stochastic term for the sloughing events and measurement noise. Experimental light absorbance data that correlate with biofilm biomass obtained from the development of phototrophic biofilms are analysed to illustrate the use of SDE modeling. Keywords: Phototrophic biofilms; sloughing; stochastic differential equations PAY-PER-VIEW: Buy this article for £23.5 (IWA MEMBER PRICE: £17.62) - All prices include VAT |
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