scholarly journals A Graph Database Model for Knowledge Extracted from Place Descriptions

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Chen ◽  
Maria Vasardani ◽  
Stephan Winter ◽  
Martin Tomko
Author(s):  
Hao Chen ◽  
Maria Vasardani ◽  
Stephan Winter ◽  
Martin Tomko

Everyday place descriptions provide a rich source of knowledge about places and their relative locations. This research proposes a place graph model for modeling this spatial, non-spatial, and contextual knowledge from place descriptions. The model extends a prior place graph, and overcomes a number of limitations. The model is implemented using the Neo4j graph database, and a management system has also been developed that allows operations including querying, mapping, and visualizing the stored knowledge in an extended place graph. Then three experimental tasks, namely georeferencing, reasoning, and querying, are selected to demonstrate the superiority of the extended model.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (S2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele D’Agostino ◽  
Pietro Liò ◽  
Marco Aldinucci ◽  
Ivan Merelli

Abstract Background High-throughput sequencing Chromosome Conformation Capture (Hi-C) allows the study of DNA interactions and 3D chromosome folding at the genome-wide scale. Usually, these data are represented as matrices describing the binary contacts among the different chromosome regions. On the other hand, a graph-based representation can be advantageous to describe the complex topology achieved by the DNA in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells. Methods Here we discuss the use of a graph database for storing and analysing data achieved by performing Hi-C experiments. The main issue is the size of the produced data and, working with a graph-based representation, the consequent necessity of adequately managing a large number of edges (contacts) connecting nodes (genes), which represents the sources of information. For this, currently available graph visualisation tools and libraries fall short with Hi-C data. The use of graph databases, instead, supports both the analysis and the visualisation of the spatial pattern present in Hi-C data, in particular for comparing different experiments or for re-mapping omics data in a space-aware context efficiently. In particular, the possibility of describing graphs through statistical indicators and, even more, the capability of correlating them through statistical distributions allows highlighting similarities and differences among different Hi-C experiments, in different cell conditions or different cell types. Results These concepts have been implemented in NeoHiC, an open-source and user-friendly web application for the progressive visualisation and analysis of Hi-C networks based on the use of the Neo4j graph database (version 3.5). Conclusion With the accumulation of more experiments, the tool will provide invaluable support to compare neighbours of genes across experiments and conditions, helping in highlighting changes in functional domains and identifying new co-organised genomic compartments.


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