Challenges in Integrating Biological Data Sources

this report, we examine the technical challenges to integration, critique the available tools and resources, and compare the cost and advantages of various methodologies. We begin by analyzing the basic steps in strict and complete integration: 1) transformation of the various schemas to a common data model; 2) matching of semantically related schema objects; 3) schema integration; 4) transformation of data to the federated database on demand; and 5) matching of semantically equivalent data. Some progress has been made on generic problems such as (1) and (3) within the wider database community, but issues of semantics (steps (2) and (5)) have only been dealt with any degree of success by domain experts within the biological community. We then look at the solution space of integration strategies as defined by two axes, the "tightness" of federation and the "degree" of instantiation, discuss where various solutions fall on this plane, and examine their cost and advantages/disadvantages. Finally, we examine technical challenges that are not -3- July 12, 199

UDBMS : Road to Unification for Multi-model Data Management

One of the greatest challenges in big data management is the “Variety” of the data. The data may be presented in various types and formats: structured, semi-structured and unstructured. For instance, data can be modeled as relational, key-value, and graph models. Having a single data platform for managing both well-structured data and NoSQL data is beneficial to users; this approach reduces significantly integration, migration, development, maintenance, and operational issues. Therefore, a challenging research work is how to develop an efficient consolidated single data management platform covering both NoSQL and relational data to reduce integration issues, simplify operations, and eliminate migration issues. In this paper, we envision novel principles and technologies to handle multiple models of data in one unified database system, including model-agnostic storage, unified query processing and indexes, in-memory structures and multi-model transactions. We discuss our visions as well as present research challenges that we need to address.Peer reviewe

Requirements for Xenon International

This document defines the requirements for the new Xenon International radioxenon system. The output of this project will be a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) developed prototype and a manufacturer-developed production prototype. The two prototypes are intended to be as close to matching as possible; this will be facilitated by overlapping development cycles and open communication between PNNL and the manufacturer