title: Partitioning the UMLS semantic network.
abstract: The unified medical language system (UMLS) integrates many well-established biomedical terminologies. The UMLS semantic network (SN) can help orient users to the vast knowledge content of the UMLS Metathesaurus (META) via its abstract conceptual view. However, the SN itself is large and complex and may still be difficult to comprehend. Our technique partitions the SN into smaller meaningful units amenable to display on limited-sized computer screens. The basis for the partitioning is the distribution of the relationships within the SN. Three rules are applied to transform the original partition into a second more cohesive partition.
authors.affiliation: Computer Science Department, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark 07102, USA.
authors.forename: Zong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yehoshua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Perl
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Halper
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Geller
authors.forename: Huanying
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gu
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000145:classification; D004014:Dictionaries as Topic; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012660:Semantics; D017432:Unified Medical Language System / Q000145:classification* / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018875:Vocabulary, Controlled