Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28298238›Full record

ArticleJournal of biomedical semantics2017

BioFed: federated query processing over life sciences linked open data.

Ali Hasnain, Qaiser Mehmood, Syeda Sana E Zainab, Muhammad Saleem, Claude Warren, Durre Zehra, Stefan Decker, Dietrich Rebholz-Schuhmann

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of biomedical semantics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Enabling semantic queries across federated bioinformatics databases.Database : the journal of biological databases and curation · 2019
    Article
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  7. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Ali HasnainInsight Centre for Data Analytics, National University of Ireland (NUIG), Galway, Ireland. ali.hasnain@insight-centre.org.
Qaiser MehmoodInsight Centre for Data Analytics, National University of Ireland (NUIG), Galway, Ireland.
Syeda Sana E ZainabInsight Centre for Data Analytics, National University of Ireland (NUIG), Galway, Ireland.
Muhammad SaleemUniversität Leipzig, IFI/AKSW, Leipzig, PO 100920, D-04009, Germany.
Claude WarrenIBM, IDA Business Park, Galway, Ireland.
Durre ZehraInsight Centre for Data Analytics, National University of Ireland (NUIG), Galway, Ireland.
Stefan DeckerInsight Centre for Data Analytics, National University of Ireland (NUIG), Galway, Ireland.
Dietrich Rebholz-SchuhmannInsight Centre for Data Analytics, National University of Ireland (NUIG), Galway, Ireland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBiomedical data, e.g. from knowledge bases and ontologies, is increasingly made available following open linked data principles, at best as RDF triple data. This is a necessary step towards unified access to biological data sets, but this still requires solutions to query multiple endpoints for their heterogeneous data to eventually retrieve all the meaningful information. Suggested solutions are based on query federation approaches, which require the submission of SPARQL queries to endpoints. Due to the size and complexity of available data, these solutions have to be optimised for efficient retrieval times and for users in life sciences research. Last but not least, over time, the reliability of data resources in terms of access and quality have to be monitored. Our solution (BioFed) federates data over 130 SPARQL endpoints in life sciences and tailors query submission according to the provenance information. BioFed has been evaluated against the state of the art solution FedX and forms an important benchmark for the life science domain.

methodsThe efficient cataloguing approach of the federated query processing system 'BioFed', the triple pattern wise source selection and the semantic source normalisation forms the core to our solution. It gathers and integrates data from newly identified public endpoints for federated access. Basic provenance information is linked to the retrieved data. Last but not least, BioFed makes use of the latest SPARQL standard (i.e., 1.1) to leverage the full benefits for query federation. The evaluation is based on 10 simple and 10 complex queries, which address data in 10 major and very popular data sources (e.g., Dugbank, Sider).

resultsBioFed is a solution for a single-point-of-access for a large number of SPARQL endpoints providing life science data. It facilitates efficient query generation for data access and provides basic provenance information in combination with the retrieved data. BioFed fully supports SPARQL 1.1 and gives access to the endpoint's availability based on the EndpointData graph. Our evaluation of BioFed against FedX is based on 20 heterogeneous federated SPARQL queries and shows competitive execution performance in comparison to FedX, which can be attributed to the provision of provenance information for the source selection.

conclusionDeveloping and testing federated query engines for life sciences data is still a challenging task. According to our findings, it is advantageous to optimise the source selection. The cataloguing of SPARQL endpoints, including type and property indexing, leads to efficient querying of data resources over the Web of Data. This could even be further improved through the use of ontologies, e.g., for abstract normalisation of query terms.

Indexed as

Biological OntologiesBiological Science DisciplinesData MiningInternetReference StandardsUser-Computer InterfaceLife sciences datasetLinked open dataSPARQL query federation

Identifiers

PMID28298238
PMCPMC5353896

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.