Using the database is simple. After completing the log in process, the
user can conduct a search of database entries in three main categories: 1) Single Implant
Studies, in which only one implant was administered during a feeding period; 2) Multiple
Implant Studies, in which two or more implants were administered during a feeding period;
and 3) Pasture Implant Studies. Within each of the first two categories, the user must
choose whether to search within data from steer or heifer experiments. In the Pasture
Implant Studies, sex can be used as a search criterion. Once a category has been selected,
the user must choose one of two options: Search and Browse the Data or Search and
Summarize the Data. In the Search and
Browse the Data mode, the system will return data from experiments in which any of the
implants checked in the search form are present. In many cases, not all the implants
checked in the search form would be present in a given experiment, and some implants that
were not checked would be returned. In essence, all the implant treatments for an article
that contains at least one of the implants checked on the search form will be displayed.
Further refinements of the search can be achieved by limiting the search to specified
ranges in average daily gain, days on feed, and so on.
In the Search and Summarize the Data mode,
the system will return data only when the implants checked on the search form are present
in the same experiment. Because the Search and Summarize mode returns weighed averages of
implant treatments, the system is designed to prevent the user from generating such
averages unless the specific implant comparison(s) were made in a given experiment.
In the
Single Implant Studies and Pasture Implant Studies databases, the user can pick two or
three implants for the search; however, the Search and Summarize mode is unique for
the Multiple Implant Studies database. In the Multiple Implant Studies database, the
user can pick up to three implant programs to compare, where an implant program is an
initial and final implant combination. In both the Single and Multiple Implant
Studies databases, weighted averages are based on the number of pens per implant
treatment. In the Pasture implant database, weighting is based on the number of animals
per implant treatment. Further refinement of these weighted averages is possible by
clicking on articles returned by the search and averaging only the selected articles.
The existing database is in its infancy. New
data are continually being summarized for input as they become available. Efforts are
underway to provide Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (pdf) files for each article in
the database as a means of allowing the user to garner even greater detail from individual
articles.
User input is vital to the success of the
database. Although, help information and tool tips are located throughout various the
search forms, suggestions or comments from users for ways to improve the functionality of
the database and articles that need to be included in the various sub-databases are
greatly appreciated. Please send comments and suggestions to
implantdb.afs@ttu.edu. |
