Specimen collection - RDFBones/FrNonMetricTraits GitHub Wiki

During the specimen collection process, the material (on which the assays are performed afterwards) is selected. Since a FrNonMetricTraits investigation represents the examination of a single human skull, the specimens which are selected during the specimen collection must belong to the same skull.

Graphs_FrNonMetricTraits/SpecCollProc1.jpg

Input

The input of the specimen collection process is automatically given by the RDFBones software. For this purpose, the RDFBones software utilises the following elements of the ontology:

• The restrictions on the object property 'has specified input' determine which skeletal elements can be proposed as potential specimen by the software
• The classes SkeletalMaterialRequirement and ValueSpecification determine that only complete skeletal elements, i. e. elements which possess the 'Label for completeness in two states' 'complete' (see skeletal inventories), are potential specimen

Querying the ontology along these lines, the software automatically pre-screens the skeletal inventories for potential specimen.

In case of the Inca Bone, only complete Neurocrania are potential specimens. All instances within the range of the skeletal material specification which satisfy the criteria given above are automatically given as input. The restrictions on the 'has specified input' property and the skeletal material requirement ensure that the specimen collection process fulfils the corresponding specimen collection objective.

Output

While the input of the specimen collection process is determined by the RDFBones software, the researcher determines the output of the specimen collection process by examining the suggested input. Only for the material that the researcher finds suitable, instances of Specimen.IncaBone, for instance, are created. The exact requirements for selecting specimens may be specified in the research plan (see investigation planning).

Skeletal material specification

The SkeletalMaterialSpecification.FrNonMetricTraits which is a part of the plan defines the range within which the RDFBones software searches for potential specimen. As default, 'Skeletal inventory' is selected. Thus, the software screens all skeletal inventories, i. e. all the material within a skeletal collection. If a skeletal collection comprises several sub-collections, for example a historic skull collection and a collection with skeletons from archaeological excavations, the researcher may adjust the range individually for each research project or even investigation. For example, if the researcher defines the restriction SkeletalMaterialSpecification.FrNonMetricTraits 'is about' some SkeletalInventory.SkullCollection, then the software just pre-screens all material from the skull collection and material from the archaeological collection cannot be selected as potential specimen in the RDFBones software. /Graphs_FrNonMetricTraits/SpecCollProc2.jpg

Note on specimen collection in the RDFBones software

At the moment, the specimen collection process is implicitly processed in the RDFBones software. If you add a new assay to the study design execution you may select a skeletal element from a drop-down menu as input. The instances suggested in the drop-down menu are the potential specimens pre-screened by the software, but you add them directly as input of an assay - the relevant triples (for specimen collection process, specimen etc.) are generated in the background.