An Excel workbook, Nutritional Response Determination Optimization (NuRDO). has been developed to simulate the optimal number or nutrient levels and replicates per level when planning nutritional requirement studies. With NuRDO, researchers can simulate data from what they think is the real shape of the response curve. They can then run up to 1,000 simulated experiments to see the combination of levels and replications that minimize the standard error or the requirements and other parameters for the broken-line models. SK and hyperbolic models. For example, consider the BLL model with a "true" requirement (REQ) of 5.2, a maximum of 99 units, a rate constant of 18.6 and a CV of 10%:For 5 input levels and 10 reps per level, the estimated REQ ± SD is equal to 5.196±0. 106, for 10 levels & 5 reps each, the REQ is 5.231±0 .157. The workbook can be used in this manner to determine the best combination of levels and reps to improve the chances or getting the best results possible from experiments.
Status and Revision History
Published on Feb 03, 2017