Descriptor-Qualifier Pairs

When indexing or cataloging resources using MeSH, NLM pairs Descriptors (main headings) and Qualifiers (sub-headings). Qualifiers comprise a set of 83 terms used to add more specificity to descriptors. Each Descriptor has a set of Allowable Qualifiers. In RDF, Descriptors and Qualifiers may be treated as separate classes, but we have also chosen to create a class of Descriptor-Qualifier pairs, each with its own URI. For example, the pairing of a Descriptor (D015242, Ofloxacin) and one of its Allowable Qualifiers (Q000008, administration & dosage) has the following URI: http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D015242Q000008

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Class Information

In MeSH RDF, the subclasses of meshv:DescriptorQualifierPairs are:

  • meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair
  • meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair

RDF Graph Diagram

The following RDF graph diagram shows how descriptor-qualifier pairs are modeled. Note that the pairing (D015242Q000008, Ofloxacin/administration & dosage) is an instance of the class, meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair. Relationships between the descriptor-qualifier pair and its respective descriptor and qualifier are explicitly defined.

Descriptor Qualifier Pair RDF Graph Diagram

meshv:DescriptorQualifierPairs - Relations and Properties

This table includes all the sub-classes of the meshv:DescriptorQualifierPairs class as either the subject or object of an RDF triple.

Subject Predicate Object
meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:hasDescriptor meshv:Descriptor
meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:hasDescriptor meshv:GeographicalDescriptor
meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:hasDescriptor meshv:TopicalDescriptor
meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:hasQualifier meshv:Qualifier
meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair meshv:hasDescriptor meshv:Descriptor
meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair meshv:hasDescriptor meshv:GeographicalDescriptor
meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair meshv:hasDescriptor meshv:TopicalDescriptor
meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair meshv:hasQualifier meshv:Qualifier
meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair meshv:useInstead meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair meshv:useInstead meshv:Descriptor
meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair meshv:useInstead meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair meshv:useInstead meshv:TopicalDescriptor
meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:hasDescriptor meshv:Descriptor
meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:hasDescriptor meshv:TopicalDescriptor
meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:hasQualifier meshv:Qualifier
meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:useInstead meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:useInstead meshv:Descriptor
meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:useInstead meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:useInstead meshv:TopicalDescriptor
Subject Predicate Object
meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair meshv:useInstead meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair meshv:useInstead meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:useInstead meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:useInstead meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SCR_Chemical meshv:indexerConsiderAlso meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SCR_Chemical meshv:indexerConsiderAlso meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SCR_Chemical meshv:indexerConsiderAlso meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SCR_Chemical meshv:preferredMappedTo meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SCR_Chemical meshv:preferredMappedTo meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SCR_Disease meshv:mappedTo meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SCR_Disease meshv:mappedTo meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SCR_Disease meshv:preferredMappedTo meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SCR_Disease meshv:preferredMappedTo meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SCR_Protocol meshv:preferredMappedTo meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SCR_Protocol meshv:preferredMappedTo meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SupplementaryConceptRecord meshv:indexerConsiderAlso meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SupplementaryConceptRecord meshv:indexerConsiderAlso meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SupplementaryConceptRecord meshv:indexerConsiderAlso meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SupplementaryConceptRecord meshv:mappedTo meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SupplementaryConceptRecord meshv:mappedTo meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SupplementaryConceptRecord meshv:preferredMappedTo meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair
meshv:SupplementaryConceptRecord meshv:preferredMappedTo meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair
Subject Predicate
meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:active
meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:lastActiveYear
meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair rdfs:label
meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:active
meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:lastActiveYear
meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair rdfs:label
meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair meshv:active
meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair meshv:lastActiveYear
meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair rdfs:label

SPARQL

The following SPARQL query will produce the the data shown in the RDF graph diagram above.

PREFIX rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#>
PREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>
PREFIX mesh: <http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/>
PREFIX meshv: <http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/vocab#>

construct {
    ?dqpair meshv:hasDescriptor mesh:D015242 .
    ?dqpair meshv:hasQualifier mesh:Q000008 .
    mesh:D015242 meshv:allowableQualifier mesh:Q000008 .
    ?dqpair rdf:type ?dqclass .
    ?dqclass rdfs:subClassOf ?superclass .
}
from <http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh>
from <http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/vocab>
where {
    ?dqpair meshv:hasDescriptor mesh:D015242 .
    ?dqpair meshv:hasQualifier mesh:Q000008 .
    mesh:D015242 meshv:allowableQualifier mesh:Q000008 .
    ?dqpair rdf:type ?dqclass .
    ?dqclass rdfs:subClassOf ?superclass .
}

The following shows how EntryCombinations (see the MeSH documentation) are modeled.

RDF Graph Diagram

Depicted in this graph:

Entry Combinations RDF Graph Diagram

SPARQL

The following SPARQL query produces the RDF corresponding to the above graph:

PREFIX rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#>
PREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>
PREFIX mesh: <http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/>
PREFIX meshv: <http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/vocab#>

CONSTRUCT {
  ?ecin ?p ?o .
  ?ecin rdf:type ?eclass .
  ?eclass rdfs:subClassOf $superclass .
}
from <http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh>
from <http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/vocab>
where {
  ?ecin meshv:hasDescriptor mesh:D000005 .
  ?ecin meshv:hasQualifier ?ecinq .
  ?ecin meshv:useInstead ?ecout .
  ?ecin ?p ?o .
  ?ecin rdf:type ?eclass .
  ?eclass rdfs:subClassOf $superclass .
}