Heterogeneous biomedical database integration using a hybrid strategy: a p53 cancer research database.

Complex problems in life science research give rise to multidisciplinary collaboration, and hence, to the need for heterogeneous database integration. The tumor suppressor p53 is mutated in close to 50% of human cancers, and a small drug-like molecule with the ability to restore native function to cancerous p53 mutants is a long-held medical goal of cancer treatment. The Cancer Research DataBase (CRDB) was designed in support of a project to find such small molecules. As a cancer informatics project, the CRDB involved small molecule data, computational docking results, functional assays, and protein structure data. As an example of the hybrid strategy for data integration, it combined the mediation and data warehousing approaches. This paper uses the CRDB to illustrate the hybrid strategy as a viable approach to heterogeneous data integration in biomedicine, and provides a design method for those considering similar systems. More efficient data sharing implies increased productivity, and, hopefully, improved chances of success in cancer research. (Code and database schemas are freely downloadable, http://www.igb.uci.edu/research/research.html.)

Quality measures for ETL processes: from goals to implementation

Extraction transformation loading (ETL) processes play an increasingly important role for the support of modern business operations. These business processes are centred around artifacts with high variability and diverse lifecycles, which correspond to key business entities. The apparent complexity of these activities has been examined through the prism of business process management, mainly focusing on functional requirements and performance optimization. However, the quality dimension has not yet been thoroughly investigated, and there is a need for a more human-centric approach to bring them closer to business-users requirements. In this paper, we take a first step towards this direction by defining a sound model for ETL process quality characteristics and quantitative measures for each characteristic, based on existing literature. Our model shows dependencies among quality characteristics and can provide the basis for subsequent analysis using goal modeling techniques. We showcase the use of goal modeling for ETL process design through a use case, where we employ the use of a goal model that includes quantitative components (i.e., indicators) for evaluation and analysis of alternative design decisions.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

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SOA, SoBI & EDA - Paradigms for Integration Capabilities of BI Platform

A Business Intelligence (BI) provider may offer a basic solution, a packed application or a comprising BI platform which integrates components from individual technologies in a synergic system. The providers’ tendency is to standardize the instruments offered on a single server platform. The article analyzes the integration capabilities and problems of BI platforms, emphasizes the differences between emergent technologies and suggests integration solutions. The analysis is useful both to the providers of BI solutions - in order to develop some agile platforms, as well as to their users - representing an important factor in selecting the solution. In addition, the conclusions to be drawn will emphasize the tendencies from the BI market and will represent the support in creating some agile platforms.Business Intelligence, agile platform, integration, metadata management, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Event Driven Architecture (EDA)

On encouraging multiple views for visualization

Visualization enables 'seeing the unseen', and provides new insight into the underlying data. However users far too easily believe or rely on a single representation of the data; this view may be a favourite method, the simplest to perform, or a method that has always been used! But, a single representation may generate a misinterpretation of the information or provide a situation where the user is missing the 'richness' of the data content! By displaying the data in multiple ways a user may understand the information through different perspectives, overcome possible misinterpretations and perform interactive investigative visualization through correlating the information between views. Thus, the use of multiple views of the same information should be encouraged. We believe the visualization system itself should actively encourage the generation of multiple views by providing appropriate tools to aid in this operation. We present and categorise issues for encouraging multiple views and provide a framework for the generation, management and manipulation of such views

Data Warehouse Design and Management: Theory and Practice

The need to store data and information permanently, for their reuse in later stages, is a very relevant problem in the modern world and now affects a large number of people and economic agents. The storage and subsequent use of data can indeed be a valuable source for decision making or to increase commercial activity. The next step to data storage is the efficient and effective use of information, particularly through the Business Intelligence, at whose base is just the implementation of a Data Warehouse. In the present paper we will analyze Data Warehouses with their theoretical models, and illustrate a practical implementation in a specific case study on a pharmaceutical distribution companyData warehouse, database, data model.