Annotation properties that includes the Dublin Core.
An illustration of a general principle.
example
A word having the same meaning as another
synonym
Julius Caesar
Verdi’s Requiem
the Second World War
your body mass index
BFO 2 Reference: In all areas of empirical inquiry we encounter general terms of two sorts. First are general terms which refer to universals or types:animaltuberculosissurgical procedurediseaseSecond, are general terms used to refer to groups of entities which instantiate a given universal but do not correspond to the extension of any subuniversal of that universal because there is nothing intrinsic to the entities in question by virtue of which they – and only they – are counted as belonging to the given group. Examples are: animal purchased by the Emperortuberculosis diagnosed on a Wednesdaysurgical procedure performed on a patient from Stockholmperson identified as candidate for clinical trial #2056-555person who is signatory of Form 656-PPVpainting by Leonardo da VinciSuch terms, which represent what are called ‘specializations’ in [81
Entity doesn't have a closure axiom because the subclasses don't necessarily exhaust all possibilites. For example Werner Ceusters 'portions of reality' include 4 sorts, entities (as BFO construes them), universals, configurations, and relations. It is an open question as to whether entities as construed in BFO will at some point also include these other portions of reality. See, for example, 'How to track absolutely everything' at http://www.referent-tracking.com/_RTU/papers/CeustersICbookRevised.pdf
An entity is anything that exists or has existed or will exist. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [001-001])
entity
An entity that exists in full at any time in which it exists at all, persists through time while maintaining its identity and has no temporal parts.
BFO 2 Reference: Continuant entities are entities which can be sliced to yield parts only along the spatial dimension, yielding for example the parts of your table which we call its legs, its top, its nails. ‘My desk stretches from the window to the door. It has spatial parts, and can be sliced (in space) in two. With respect to time, however, a thing is a continuant.’ [60, p. 240
Continuant doesn't have a closure axiom because the subclasses don't necessarily exhaust all possibilites. For example, in an expansion involving bringing in some of Ceuster's other portions of reality, questions are raised as to whether universals are continuants
A continuant is an entity that persists, endures, or continues to exist through time while maintaining its identity. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [008-002])
if b is a continuant and if, for some t, c has_continuant_part b at t, then c is a continuant. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [126-001])
if b is a continuant and if, for some t, cis continuant_part of b at t, then c is a continuant. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [009-002])
if b is a material entity, then there is some temporal interval (referred to below as a one-dimensional temporal region) during which b exists. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [011-002])
(forall (x y) (if (and (Continuant x) (exists (t) (continuantPartOfAt y x t))) (Continuant y))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [009-002]
(forall (x y) (if (and (Continuant x) (exists (t) (hasContinuantPartOfAt y x t))) (Continuant y))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [126-001]
(forall (x) (if (Continuant x) (Entity x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [008-002]
(forall (x) (if (Material Entity x) (exists (t) (and (TemporalRegion t) (existsAt x t))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [011-002]
continuant
An entity that has temporal parts and that happens, unfolds or develops through time.
BFO 2 Reference: every occurrent that is not a temporal or spatiotemporal region is s-dependent on some independent continuant that is not a spatial region
BFO 2 Reference: s-dependence obtains between every process and its participants in the sense that, as a matter of necessity, this process could not have existed unless these or those participants existed also. A process may have a succession of participants at different phases of its unfolding. Thus there may be different players on the field at different times during the course of a football game; but the process which is the entire game s-depends_on all of these players nonetheless. Some temporal parts of this process will s-depend_on on only some of the players.
Occurrent doesn't have a closure axiom because the subclasses don't necessarily exhaust all possibilites. An example would be the sum of a process and the process boundary of another process.
Simons uses different terminology for relations of occurrents to regions: Denote the spatio-temporal location of a given occurrent e by 'spn[e]' and call this region its span. We may say an occurrent is at its span, in any larger region, and covers any smaller region. Now suppose we have fixed a frame of reference so that we can speak not merely of spatio-temporal but also of spatial regions (places) and temporal regions (times). The spread of an occurrent, (relative to a frame of reference) is the space it exactly occupies, and its spell is likewise the time it exactly occupies. We write 'spr[e]' and `spl[e]' respectively for the spread and spell of e, omitting mention of the frame.
An occurrent is an entity that unfolds itself in time or it is the instantaneous boundary of such an entity (for example a beginning or an ending) or it is a temporal or spatiotemporal region which such an entity occupies_temporal_region or occupies_spatiotemporal_region. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [077-002])
Every occurrent occupies_spatiotemporal_region some spatiotemporal region. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [108-001])
b is an occurrent entity iff b is an entity that has temporal parts. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [079-001])
(forall (x) (if (Occurrent x) (exists (r) (and (SpatioTemporalRegion r) (occupiesSpatioTemporalRegion x r))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [108-001]
(forall (x) (iff (Occurrent x) (and (Entity x) (exists (y) (temporalPartOf y x))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [079-001]
occurrent
a chair
a heart
a leg
a molecule
a spatial region
an atom
an orchestra.
an organism
the bottom right portion of a human torso
the interior of your mouth
A continuant that is a bearer of quality and realizable entity entities, in which other entities inhere and which itself cannot inhere in anything.
b is an independent continuant = Def. b is a continuant which is such that there is no c and no t such that b s-depends_on c at t. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [017-002])
For any independent continuant b and any time t there is some spatial region r such that b is located_in r at t. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [134-001])
For every independent continuant b and time t during the region of time spanned by its life, there are entities which s-depends_on b during t. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [018-002])
(forall (x t) (if (IndependentContinuant x) (exists (r) (and (SpatialRegion r) (locatedInAt x r t))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [134-001]
(forall (x t) (if (and (IndependentContinuant x) (existsAt x t)) (exists (y) (and (Entity y) (specificallyDependsOnAt y x t))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [018-002]
(iff (IndependentContinuant a) (and (Continuant a) (not (exists (b t) (specificallyDependsOnAt a b t))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [017-002]
independent continuant
A continuant that is either dependent on one or other independent continuant bearers or inheres in or is borne by other entities.
obsolete dependent continuant
BFO 2 Reference: Spatial regions do not participate in processes.
Spatial region doesn't have a closure axiom because the subclasses don't exhaust all possibilites. An example would be the union of a spatial point and a spatial line that doesn't overlap the point, or two spatial lines that intersect at a single point. In both cases the resultant spatial region is neither 0-dimensional, 1-dimensional, 2-dimensional, or 3-dimensional.
A spatial region is a continuant entity that is a continuant_part_of spaceR as defined relative to some frame R. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [035-001])
All continuant parts of spatial regions are spatial regions. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [036-001])
(forall (x y t) (if (and (SpatialRegion x) (continuantPartOfAt y x t)) (SpatialRegion y))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [036-001]
(forall (x) (if (SpatialRegion x) (Continuant x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [035-001]
spatial region
Temporal region doesn't have a closure axiom because the subclasses don't exhaust all possibilites. An example would be the mereological sum of a temporal instant and a temporal interval that doesn't overlap the instant. In this case the resultant temporal region is neither 0-dimensional nor 1-dimensional
A temporal region is an occurrent entity that is part of time as defined relative to some reference frame. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [100-001])
All parts of temporal regions are temporal regions. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [101-001])
Every temporal region t is such that t occupies_temporal_region t. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [119-002])
(forall (r) (if (TemporalRegion r) (occupiesTemporalRegion r r))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [119-002]
(forall (x y) (if (and (TemporalRegion x) (occurrentPartOf y x)) (TemporalRegion y))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [101-001]
(forall (x) (if (TemporalRegion x) (Occurrent x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [100-001]
temporal region
an infinitely thin plane in space.
the surface of a sphere-shaped part of space
A two-dimensional spatial region is a spatial region that is of two dimensions. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [039-001])
(forall (x) (if (TwoDimensionalSpatialRegion x) (SpatialRegion x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [039-001]
two-dimensional spatial region
the spatiotemporal region occupied by a human life
the spatiotemporal region occupied by a process of cellular meiosis.
the spatiotemporal region occupied by the development of a cancer tumor
A spatiotemporal region is an occurrent entity that is part of spacetime. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [095-001])
All parts of spatiotemporal regions are spatiotemporal regions. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [096-001])
Each spatiotemporal region at any time t projects_onto some spatial region at t. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [099-001])
Each spatiotemporal region projects_onto some temporal region. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [098-001])
Every spatiotemporal region occupies_spatiotemporal_region itself.
Every spatiotemporal region s is such that s occupies_spatiotemporal_region s. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [107-002])
(forall (r) (if (SpatioTemporalRegion r) (occupiesSpatioTemporalRegion r r))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [107-002]
(forall (x t) (if (SpatioTemporalRegion x) (exists (y) (and (SpatialRegion y) (spatiallyProjectsOntoAt x y t))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [099-001]
(forall (x y) (if (and (SpatioTemporalRegion x) (occurrentPartOf y x)) (SpatioTemporalRegion y))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [096-001]
(forall (x) (if (SpatioTemporalRegion x) (Occurrent x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [095-001]
(forall (x) (if (SpatioTemporalRegion x) (exists (y) (and (TemporalRegion y) (temporallyProjectsOnto x y))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [098-001]
spatiotemporal region
a process of cell-division, \ a beating of the heart
a process of meiosis
a process of sleeping
the course of a disease
the flight of a bird
the life of an organism
your process of aging.
An occurrent that has temporal proper parts and for some time t, p s-depends_on some material entity at t.
p is a process = Def. p is an occurrent that has temporal proper parts and for some time t, p s-depends_on some material entity at t. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [083-003])
BFO 2 Reference: The realm of occurrents is less pervasively marked by the presence of natural units than is the case in the realm of independent continuants. Thus there is here no counterpart of ‘object’. In BFO 1.0 ‘process’ served as such a counterpart. In BFO 2.0 ‘process’ is, rather, the occurrent counterpart of ‘material entity’. Those natural – as contrasted with engineered, which here means: deliberately executed – units which do exist in the realm of occurrents are typically either parasitic on the existence of natural units on the continuant side, or they are fiat in nature. Thus we can count lives; we can count football games; we can count chemical reactions performed in experiments or in chemical manufacturing. We cannot count the processes taking place, for instance, in an episode of insect mating behavior.Even where natural units are identifiable, for example cycles in a cyclical process such as the beating of a heart or an organism’s sleep/wake cycle, the processes in question form a sequence with no discontinuities (temporal gaps) of the sort that we find for instance where billiard balls or zebrafish or planets are separated by clear spatial gaps. Lives of organisms are process units, but they too unfold in a continuous series from other, prior processes such as fertilization, and they unfold in turn in continuous series of post-life processes such as post-mortem decay. Clear examples of boundaries of processes are almost always of the fiat sort (midnight, a time of death as declared in an operating theater or on a death certificate, the initiation of a state of war)
(iff (Process a) (and (Occurrent a) (exists (b) (properTemporalPartOf b a)) (exists (c t) (and (MaterialEntity c) (specificallyDependsOnAt a c t))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [083-003]
process
an atom of element X has the disposition to decay to an atom of element Y
certain people have a predisposition to colon cancer
children are innately disposed to categorize objects in certain ways.
the cell wall is disposed to filter chemicals in endocytosis and exocytosis
BFO 2 Reference: Dispositions exist along a strength continuum. Weaker forms of disposition are realized in only a fraction of triggering cases. These forms occur in a significant number of cases of a similar type.
b is a disposition means: b is a realizable entity & b’s bearer is some material entity & b is such that if it ceases to exist, then its bearer is physically changed, & b’s realization occurs when and because this bearer is in some special physical circumstances, & this realization occurs in virtue of the bearer’s physical make-up. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [062-002])
If b is a realizable entity then for all t at which b exists, b s-depends_on some material entity at t. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [063-002])
(forall (x t) (if (and (RealizableEntity x) (existsAt x t)) (exists (y) (and (MaterialEntity y) (specificallyDepends x y t))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [063-002]
(forall (x) (if (Disposition x) (and (RealizableEntity x) (exists (y) (and (MaterialEntity y) (bearerOfAt x y t)))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [062-002]
disposition
the disposition of this piece of metal to conduct electricity.
the disposition of your blood to coagulate
the function of your reproductive organs
the role of being a doctor
the role of this boundary to delineate where Utah and Colorado meet
A specifically dependent continuant that inheres in continuant entities and are not exhibited in full at every time in which it inheres in an entity or group of entities. The exhibition or actualization of a realizable entity is a particular manifestation, functioning or process that occurs under certain circumstances.
To say that b is a realizable entity is to say that b is a specifically dependent continuant that inheres in some independent continuant which is not a spatial region and is of a type instances of which are realized in processes of a correlated type. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [058-002])
All realizable dependent continuants have independent continuants that are not spatial regions as their bearers. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [060-002])
(forall (x t) (if (RealizableEntity x) (exists (y) (and (IndependentContinuant y) (not (SpatialRegion y)) (bearerOfAt y x t))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [060-002]
(forall (x) (if (RealizableEntity x) (and (SpecificallyDependentContinuant x) (exists (y) (and (IndependentContinuant y) (not (SpatialRegion y)) (inheresIn x y)))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [058-002]
realizable entity
A zero-dimensional spatial region is a point in space. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [037-001])
(forall (x) (if (ZeroDimensionalSpatialRegion x) (SpatialRegion x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [037-001]
zero-dimensional spatial region
the ambient temperature of this portion of air
the color of a tomato
the length of the circumference of your waist
the mass of this piece of gold.
the shape of your nose
the shape of your nostril
a quality is a specifically dependent continuant that, in contrast to roles and dispositions, does not require any further process in order to be realized. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [055-001])
If an entity is a quality at any time that it exists, then it is a quality at every time that it exists. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [105-001])
(forall (x) (if (Quality x) (SpecificallyDependentContinuant x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [055-001]
(forall (x) (if (exists (t) (and (existsAt x t) (Quality x))) (forall (t_1) (if (existsAt x t_1) (Quality x))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [105-001]
quality
Reciprocal specifically dependent continuants: the function of this key to open this lock and the mutually dependent disposition of this lock: to be opened by this key
of one-sided specifically dependent continuants: the mass of this tomato
of relational dependent continuants (multiple bearers): John’s love for Mary, the ownership relation between John and this statue, the relation of authority between John and his subordinates.
the disposition of this fish to decay
the function of this heart: to pump blood
the mutual dependence of proton donors and acceptors in chemical reactions [79
the mutual dependence of the role predator and the role prey as played by two organisms in a given interaction
the pink color of a medium rare piece of grilled filet mignon at its center
the shape of this hole.
the smell of this portion of mozzarella
A continuant that inheres in or is borne by other entities. Every instance of A requires some specific instance of B which must always be the same.
b is a specifically dependent continuant = Def. b is a continuant & there is some independent continuant c which is not a spatial region and which is such that b s-depends_on c at every time t during the course of b’s existence. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [050-003])
Specifically dependent continuant doesn't have a closure axiom because the subclasses don't necessarily exhaust all possibilites. We're not sure what else will develop here, but for example there are questions such as what are promises, obligation, etc.
(iff (SpecificallyDependentContinuant a) (and (Continuant a) (forall (t) (if (existsAt a t) (exists (b) (and (IndependentContinuant b) (not (SpatialRegion b)) (specificallyDependsOnAt a b t))))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [050-003]
specifically dependent continuant
John’s role of husband to Mary is dependent on Mary’s role of wife to John, and both are dependent on the object aggregate comprising John and Mary as member parts joined together through the relational quality of being married.
the priest role
the role of a boundary to demarcate two neighboring administrative territories
the role of a building in serving as a military target
the role of a stone in marking a property boundary
the role of subject in a clinical trial
the student role
A realizable entity the manifestation of which brings about some result or end that is not essential to a continuant in virtue of the kind of thing that it is but that can be served or participated in by that kind of continuant in some kinds of natural, social or institutional contexts.
BFO 2 Reference: One major family of examples of non-rigid universals involves roles, and ontologies developed for corresponding administrative purposes may consist entirely of representatives of entities of this sort. Thus ‘professor’, defined as follows,b instance_of professor at t =Def. there is some c, c instance_of professor role & c inheres_in b at t.denotes a non-rigid universal and so also do ‘nurse’, ‘student’, ‘colonel’, ‘taxpayer’, and so forth. (These terms are all, in the jargon of philosophy, phase sortals.) By using role terms in definitions, we can create a BFO conformant treatment of such entities drawing on the fact that, while an instance of professor may be simultaneously an instance of trade union member, no instance of the type professor role is also (at any time) an instance of the type trade union member role (any more than any instance of the type color is at any time an instance of the type length).If an ontology of employment positions should be defined in terms of roles following the above pattern, this enables the ontology to do justice to the fact that individuals instantiate the corresponding universals – professor, sergeant, nurse – only during certain phases in their lives.
b is a role means: b is a realizable entity & b exists because there is some single bearer that is in some special physical, social, or institutional set of circumstances in which this bearer does not have to be& b is not such that, if it ceases to exist, then the physical make-up of the bearer is thereby changed. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [061-001])
(forall (x) (if (Role x) (RealizableEntity x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [061-001]
role
or with divisions drawn by cognitive subjects for practical reasons, such as the division of a cake (before slicing) into (what will become) slices (and thus member parts of an object aggregate). However, this does not mean that fiat object parts are dependent for their existence on divisions or delineations effected by cognitive subjects. If, for example, it is correct to conceive geological layers of the Earth as fiat object parts of the Earth, then even though these layers were first delineated in recent times, still existed long before such delineation and what holds of these layers (for example that the oldest layers are also the lowest layers) did not begin to hold because of our acts of delineation.Treatment of material entity in BFOExamples viewed by some as problematic cases for the trichotomy of fiat object part, object, and object aggregate include: a mussel on (and attached to) a rock, a slime mold, a pizza, a cloud, a galaxy, a railway train with engine and multiple carriages, a clonal stand of quaking aspen, a bacterial community (biofilm), a broken femur. Note that, as Aristotle already clearly recognized, such problematic cases – which lie at or near the penumbra of instances defined by the categories in question – need not invalidate these categories. The existence of grey objects does not prove that there are not objects which are black and objects which are white; the existence of mules does not prove that there are not objects which are donkeys and objects which are horses. It does, however, show that the examples in question need to be addressed carefully in order to show how they can be fitted into the proposed scheme, for example by recognizing additional subdivisions [29
the FMA:regional parts of an intact human body.
the Western hemisphere of the Earth
the division of the brain into regions
the division of the planet into hemispheres
the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the body
the upper and lower lobes of the left lung
BFO 2 Reference: Most examples of fiat object parts are associated with theoretically drawn divisions
b is a fiat object part = Def. b is a material entity which is such that for all times t, if b exists at t then there is some object c such that b proper continuant_part of c at t and c is demarcated from the remainder of c by a two-dimensional continuant fiat boundary. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [027-004])
(forall (x) (if (FiatObjectPart x) (and (MaterialEntity x) (forall (t) (if (existsAt x t) (exists (y) (and (Object y) (properContinuantPartOfAt x y t)))))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [027-004]
fiat object part
an edge of a cube-shaped portion of space.
A one-dimensional spatial region is a line or aggregate of lines stretching from one point in space to another. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [038-001])
(forall (x) (if (OneDimensionalSpatialRegion x) (SpatialRegion x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [038-001]
one-dimensional spatial region
a collection of cells in a blood biobank.
a swarm of bees is an aggregate of members who are linked together through natural bonds
a symphony orchestra
an organization is an aggregate whose member parts have roles of specific types (for example in a jazz band, a chess club, a football team)
defined by fiat: the aggregate of members of an organization
defined through physical attachment: the aggregate of atoms in a lump of granite
defined through physical containment: the aggregate of molecules of carbon dioxide in a sealed container
defined via attributive delimitations such as: the patients in this hospital
the aggregate of bearings in a constant velocity axle joint
the aggregate of blood cells in your body
the nitrogen atoms in the atmosphere
the restaurants in Palo Alto
your collection of Meissen ceramic plates.
An entity a is an object aggregate if and only if there is a mutually exhaustive and pairwise disjoint partition of a into objects
BFO 2 Reference: object aggregates may gain and lose parts while remaining numerically identical (one and the same individual) over time. This holds both for aggregates whose membership is determined naturally (the aggregate of cells in your body) and aggregates determined by fiat (a baseball team, a congressional committee).
ISBN:978-3-938793-98-5pp124-158#Thomas Bittner and Barry Smith, 'A Theory of Granular Partitions', in K. Munn and B. Smith (eds.), Applied Ontology: An Introduction, Frankfurt/Lancaster: ontos, 2008, 125-158.
b is an object aggregate means: b is a material entity consisting exactly of a plurality of objects as member_parts at all times at which b exists. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [025-004])
(forall (x) (if (ObjectAggregate x) (and (MaterialEntity x) (forall (t) (if (existsAt x t) (exists (y z) (and (Object y) (Object z) (memberPartOfAt y x t) (memberPartOfAt z x t) (not (= y z)))))) (not (exists (w t_1) (and (memberPartOfAt w x t_1) (not (Object w)))))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [025-004]
object aggregate
a cube-shaped region of space
a sphere-shaped region of space,
A three-dimensional spatial region is a spatial region that is of three dimensions. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [040-001])
(forall (x) (if (ThreeDimensionalSpatialRegion x) (SpatialRegion x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [040-001]
three-dimensional spatial region
Manhattan Canyon)
a hole in the interior of a portion of cheese
a rabbit hole
an air traffic control region defined in the airspace above an airport
the Grand Canyon
the Piazza San Marco
the cockpit of an aircraft
the hold of a ship
the interior of a kangaroo pouch
the interior of the trunk of your car
the interior of your bedroom
the interior of your office
the interior of your refrigerator
the lumen of your gut
your left nostril (a fiat part – the opening – of your left nasal cavity)
b is a site means: b is a three-dimensional immaterial entity that is (partially or wholly) bounded by a material entity or it is a three-dimensional immaterial part thereof. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [034-002])
(forall (x) (if (Site x) (ImmaterialEntity x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [034-002]
site
atom
cell
cells and organisms
engineered artifacts
grain of sand
molecule
organelle
organism
planet
solid portions of matter
star
BFO 2 Reference: BFO rests on the presupposition that at multiple micro-, meso- and macroscopic scales reality exhibits certain stable, spatially separated or separable material units, combined or combinable into aggregates of various sorts (for example organisms into what are called ‘populations’). Such units play a central role in almost all domains of natural science from particle physics to cosmology. Many scientific laws govern the units in question, employing general terms (such as ‘molecule’ or ‘planet’) referring to the types and subtypes of units, and also to the types and subtypes of the processes through which such units develop and interact. The division of reality into such natural units is at the heart of biological science, as also is the fact that these units may form higher-level units (as cells form multicellular organisms) and that they may also form aggregates of units, for example as cells form portions of tissue and organs form families, herds, breeds, species, and so on. At the same time, the division of certain portions of reality into engineered units (manufactured artifacts) is the basis of modern industrial technology, which rests on the distributed mass production of engineered parts through division of labor and on their assembly into larger, compound units such as cars and laptops. The division of portions of reality into units is one starting point for the phenomenon of counting.
BFO 2 Reference: Each object is such that there are entities of which we can assert unproblematically that they lie in its interior, and other entities of which we can assert unproblematically that they lie in its exterior. This may not be so for entities lying at or near the boundary between the interior and exterior. This means that two objects – for example the two cells depicted in Figure 3 – may be such that there are material entities crossing their boundaries which belong determinately to neither cell. Something similar obtains in certain cases of conjoined twins (see below).
BFO 2 Reference: To say that b is causally unified means: b is a material entity which is such that its material parts are tied together in such a way that, in environments typical for entities of the type in question,if c, a continuant part of b that is in the interior of b at t, is larger than a certain threshold size (which will be determined differently from case to case, depending on factors such as porosity of external cover) and is moved in space to be at t at a location on the exterior of the spatial region that had been occupied by b at t, then either b’s other parts will be moved in coordinated fashion or b will be damaged (be affected, for example, by breakage or tearing) in the interval between t and t.causal changes in one part of b can have consequences for other parts of b without the mediation of any entity that lies on the exterior of b. Material entities with no proper material parts would satisfy these conditions trivially. Candidate examples of types of causal unity for material entities of more complex sorts are as follows (this is not intended to be an exhaustive list):CU1: Causal unity via physical coveringHere the parts in the interior of the unified entity are combined together causally through a common membrane or other physical covering\. The latter points outwards toward and may serve a protective function in relation to what lies on the exterior of the entity [13, 47
BFO 2 Reference: an object is a maximal causally unified material entity
BFO 2 Reference: ‘objects’ are sometimes referred to as ‘grains’ [74
b is an object means: b is a material entity which manifests causal unity of one or other of the types CUn listed above & is of a type (a material universal) instances of which are maximal relative to this criterion of causal unity. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [024-001])
object
The entries in your database are patterns instantiated as quality instances in your hard drive. The database itself is an aggregate of such patterns. When you create the database you create a particular instance of the generically dependent continuant type database. Each entry in the database is an instance of the generically dependent continuant type IAO: information content entity.
the pdf file on your laptop, the pdf file that is a copy thereof on my laptop
the sequence of this protein molecule; the sequence that is a copy thereof in that protein molecule.
A continuant that is dependent on one or other independent continuant bearers. For every instance of A requires some instance of (an independent continuant type) B but which instance of B serves can change from time to time.
b is a generically dependent continuant = Def. b is a continuant that g-depends_on one or more other entities. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [074-001])
(iff (GenericallyDependentContinuant a) (and (Continuant a) (exists (b t) (genericallyDependsOnAt a b t)))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [074-001]
generically dependent continuant
the function of a hammer to drive in nails
the function of a heart pacemaker to regulate the beating of a heart through electricity
the function of amylase in saliva to break down starch into sugar
BFO 2 Reference: In the past, we have distinguished two varieties of function, artifactual function and biological function. These are not asserted subtypes of BFO:function however, since the same function – for example: to pump, to transport – can exist both in artifacts and in biological entities. The asserted subtypes of function that would be needed in order to yield a separate monoheirarchy are not artifactual function, biological function, etc., but rather transporting function, pumping function, etc.
A function is a disposition that exists in virtue of the bearer’s physical make-up and this physical make-up is something the bearer possesses because it came into being, either through evolution (in the case of natural biological entities) or through intentional design (in the case of artifacts), in order to realize processes of a certain sort. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [064-001])
(forall (x) (if (Function x) (Disposition x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [064-001]
function
the boundary between the 2nd and 3rd year of your life.
p is a process boundary =Def. p is a temporal part of a process & p has no proper temporal parts. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [084-001])
Every process boundary occupies_temporal_region a zero-dimensional temporal region. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [085-002])
(forall (x) (if (ProcessBoundary x) (exists (y) (and (ZeroDimensionalTemporalRegion y) (occupiesTemporalRegion x y))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [085-002]
(iff (ProcessBoundary a) (exists (p) (and (Process p) (temporalPartOf a p) (not (exists (b) (properTemporalPartOf b a)))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [084-001]
process boundary
the temporal region during which a process occurs.
BFO 2 Reference: A temporal interval is a special kind of one-dimensional temporal region, namely one that is self-connected (is without gaps or breaks).
A one-dimensional temporal region is a temporal region that is extended. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [103-001])
(forall (x) (if (OneDimensionalTemporalRegion x) (TemporalRegion x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [103-001]
one-dimensional temporal region
a flame
a forest fire
a human being
a hurricane
a photon
a puff of smoke
a sea wave
a tornado
an aggregate of human beings.
an energy wave
an epidemic
the undetached arm of a human being
An independent continuant that is spatially extended whose identity is independent of that of other entities and can be maintained through time.
BFO 2 Reference: Material entities (continuants) can preserve their identity even while gaining and losing material parts. Continuants are contrasted with occurrents, which unfold themselves in successive temporal parts or phases [60
BFO 2 Reference: Object, Fiat Object Part and Object Aggregate are not intended to be exhaustive of Material Entity. Users are invited to propose new subcategories of Material Entity.
BFO 2 Reference: ‘Matter’ is intended to encompass both mass and energy (we will address the ontological treatment of portions of energy in a later version of BFO). A portion of matter is anything that includes elementary particles among its proper or improper parts: quarks and leptons, including electrons, as the smallest particles thus far discovered; baryons (including protons and neutrons) at a higher level of granularity; atoms and molecules at still higher levels, forming the cells, organs, organisms and other material entities studied by biologists, the portions of rock studied by geologists, the fossils studied by paleontologists, and so on.Material entities are three-dimensional entities (entities extended in three spatial dimensions), as contrasted with the processes in which they participate, which are four-dimensional entities (entities extended also along the dimension of time).According to the FMA, material entities may have immaterial entities as parts – including the entities identified below as sites; for example the interior (or ‘lumen’) of your small intestine is a part of your body. BFO 2.0 embodies a decision to follow the FMA here.
A material entity is an independent continuant that has some portion of matter as proper or improper continuant part. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [019-002])
Every entity which has a material entity as continuant part is a material entity. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [020-002])
every entity of which a material entity is continuant part is also a material entity. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [021-002])
(forall (x) (if (MaterialEntity x) (IndependentContinuant x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [019-002]
(forall (x) (if (and (Entity x) (exists (y t) (and (MaterialEntity y) (continuantPartOfAt x y t)))) (MaterialEntity x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [021-002]
(forall (x) (if (and (Entity x) (exists (y t) (and (MaterialEntity y) (continuantPartOfAt y x t)))) (MaterialEntity x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [020-002]
material entity
is part of
my brain is part of my body (continuant parthood, two material entities)
my stomach cavity is part of my stomach (continuant parthood, immaterial entity is part of material entity)
this day is part of this year (occurrent parthood)
a core relation that holds between a part and its whole
Everything is part of itself. Any part of any part of a thing is itself part of that thing. Two distinct things cannot be part of each other.
Occurrents are not subject to change and so parthood between occurrents holds for all the times that the part exists. Many continuants are subject to change, so parthood between continuants will only hold at certain times, but this is difficult to specify in OWL. See https://code.google.com/p/obo-relations/wiki/ROAndTime
Parthood requires the part and the whole to have compatible classes: only an occurrent can be part of an occurrent; only a process can be part of a process; only a continuant can be part of a continuant; only an independent continuant can be part of an independent continuant; only an immaterial entity can be part of an immaterial entity; only a specifically dependent continuant can be part of a specifically dependent continuant; only a generically dependent continuant can be part of a generically dependent continuant. (This list is not exhaustive.) A continuant cannot be part of an occurrent: use 'participates in'. An occurrent cannot be part of a continuant: use 'has participant'. A material entity cannot be part of an immaterial entity: use 'has location'. A specifically dependent continuant cannot be part of an independent continuant: use 'inheres in'. An independent continuant cannot be part of a specifically dependent continuant: use 'bearer of'.
part_of
part of
has part
my body has part my brain (continuant parthood, two material entities)
my stomach has part my stomach cavity (continuant parthood, material entity has part immaterial entity)
this year has part this day (occurrent parthood)
a core relation that holds between a whole and its part
Everything has itself as a part. Any part of any part of a thing is itself part of that thing. Two distinct things cannot have each other as a part.
Parthood requires the part and the whole to have compatible classes: only an occurrent have an occurrent as part; only a process can have a process as part; only a continuant can have a continuant as part; only an independent continuant can have an independent continuant as part; only a specifically dependent continuant can have a specifically dependent continuant as part; only a generically dependent continuant can have a generically dependent continuant as part. (This list is not exhaustive.) A continuant cannot have an occurrent as part: use 'participates in'. An occurrent cannot have a continuant as part: use 'has participant'. An immaterial entity cannot have a material entity as part: use 'location of'. An independent continuant cannot have a specifically dependent continuant as part: use 'bearer of'. A specifically dependent continuant cannot have an independent continuant as part: use 'inheres in'.
has_part
realized in
this disease is realized in this disease course
this fragility is realized in this shattering
this investigator role is realized in this investigation
is realized by
realized_in
[copied from inverse property 'realizes'] to say that b realizes c at t is to assert that there is some material entity d & b is a process which has participant d at t & c is a disposition or role of which d is bearer_of at t& the type instantiated by b is correlated with the type instantiated by c. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [059-003])
Paraphrase of elucidation: a relation between a realizable entity and a process, where there is some material entity that is bearer of the realizable entity and participates in the process, and the realizable entity comes to be realized in the course of the process
realizes
this disease course realizes this disease
this investigation realizes this investigator role
this shattering realizes this fragility
to say that b realizes c at t is to assert that there is some material entity d & b is a process which has participant d at t & c is a disposition or role of which d is bearer_of at t& the type instantiated by b is correlated with the type instantiated by c. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [059-003])
Paraphrase of elucidation: a relation between a process and a realizable entity, where there is some material entity that is bearer of the realizable entity and participates in the process, and the realizable entity comes to be realized in the course of the process
occurs in
b occurs_in c =def b is a process and c is a material entity or immaterial entity& there exists a spatiotemporal region r and b occupies_spatiotemporal_region r.& forall(t) if b exists_at t then c exists_at t & there exist spatial regions s and s’ where & b spatially_projects_onto s at t& c is occupies_spatial_region s’ at t& s is a proper_continuant_part_of s’ at t
occurs_in
unfolds in
unfolds_in
Paraphrase of definition: a relation between a process and an independent continuant, in which the process takes place entirely within the independent continuant
site of
[copied from inverse property 'occurs in'] b occurs_in c =def b is a process and c is a material entity or immaterial entity& there exists a spatiotemporal region r and b occupies_spatiotemporal_region r.& forall(t) if b exists_at t then c exists_at t & there exist spatial regions s and s’ where & b spatially_projects_onto s at t& c is occupies_spatial_region s’ at t& s is a proper_continuant_part_of s’ at t
Paraphrase of definition: a relation between an independent continuant and a process, in which the process takes place entirely within the independent continuant
contains process
To say that each spatiotemporal region s temporally_projects_onto some temporal region t is to say that t is the temporal extension of s. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [080-003])
To say that spatiotemporal region s spatially_projects_onto spatial region r at t is to say that r is the spatial extent of s at t. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [081-003])
b is a continuant fiat boundary = Def. b is an immaterial entity that is of zero, one or two dimensions and does not include a spatial region as part. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [029-001])
BFO 2 Reference: In BFO 1.1 the assumption was made that the external surface of a material entity such as a cell could be treated as if it were a boundary in the mathematical sense. The new document propounds the view that when we talk about external surfaces of material objects in this way then we are talking about something fiat. To be dealt with in a future version: fiat boundaries at different levels of granularity.More generally, the focus in discussion of boundaries in BFO 2.0 is now on fiat boundaries, which means: boundaries for which there is no assumption that they coincide with physical discontinuities. The ontology of boundaries becomes more closely allied with the ontology of regions.
BFO 2 Reference: a continuant fiat boundary is a boundary of some material entity (for example: the plane separating the Northern and Southern hemispheres; the North Pole), or it is a boundary of some immaterial entity (for example of some portion of airspace). Three basic kinds of continuant fiat boundary can be distinguished (together with various combination kinds [29
Continuant fiat boundary doesn't have a closure axiom because the subclasses don't necessarily exhaust all possibilites. An example would be the mereological sum of two-dimensional continuant fiat boundary and a one dimensional continuant fiat boundary that doesn't overlap it. The situation is analogous to temporal and spatial regions.
Every continuant fiat boundary is located at some spatial region at every time at which it exists
(iff (ContinuantFiatBoundary a) (and (ImmaterialEntity a) (exists (b) (and (or (ZeroDimensionalSpatialRegion b) (OneDimensionalSpatialRegion b) (TwoDimensionalSpatialRegion b)) (forall (t) (locatedInAt a b t)))) (not (exists (c t) (and (SpatialRegion c) (continuantPartOfAt c a t)))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [029-001]
continuant fiat boundary
BFO 2 Reference: Immaterial entities are divided into two subgroups:boundaries and sites, which bound, or are demarcated in relation, to material entities, and which can thus change location, shape and size and as their material hosts move or change shape or size (for example: your nasal passage; the hold of a ship; the boundary of Wales (which moves with the rotation of the Earth) [38, 7, 10
immaterial entity
The Equator
all geopolitical boundaries
all lines of latitude and longitude
the line separating the outer surface of the mucosa of the lower lip from the outer surface of the skin of the chin.
the median sulcus of your tongue
a one-dimensional continuant fiat boundary is a continuous fiat line whose location is defined in relation to some material entity. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [032-001])
(iff (OneDimensionalContinuantFiatBoundary a) (and (ContinuantFiatBoundary a) (exists (b) (and (OneDimensionalSpatialRegion b) (forall (t) (locatedInAt a b t)))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [032-001]
one-dimensional continuant fiat boundary
On a somewhat higher level of complexity are what we shall call rate process profiles, which are the targets of selective abstraction focused not on determinate quality magnitudes plotted over time, but rather on certain ratios between these magnitudes and elapsed times. A speed process profile, for example, is represented by a graph plotting against time the ratio of distance covered per unit of time. Since rates may change, and since such changes, too, may have rates of change, we have to deal here with a hierarchy of process profile universals at successive levels
One important sub-family of rate process profiles is illustrated by the beat or frequency profiles of cyclical processes, illustrated by the 60 beats per minute beating process of John’s heart, or the 120 beats per minute drumming process involved in one of John’s performances in a rock band, and so on. Each such process includes what we shall call a beat process profile instance as part, a subtype of rate process profile in which the salient ratio is not distance covered but rather number of beat cycles per unit of time. Each beat process profile instance instantiates the determinable universal beat process profile. But it also instantiates multiple more specialized universals at lower levels of generality, selected from rate process profilebeat process profileregular beat process profile3 bpm beat process profile4 bpm beat process profileirregular beat process profileincreasing beat process profileand so on.In the case of a regular beat process profile, a rate can be assigned in the simplest possible fashion by dividing the number of cycles by the length of the temporal region occupied by the beating process profile as a whole. Irregular process profiles of this sort, for example as identified in the clinic, or in the readings on an aircraft instrument panel, are often of diagnostic significance.
The simplest type of process profiles are what we shall call ‘quality process profiles’, which are the process profiles which serve as the foci of the sort of selective abstraction that is involved when measurements are made of changes in single qualities, as illustrated, for example, by process profiles of mass, temperature, aortic pressure, and so on.
b is a process_profile =Def. there is some process c such that b process_profile_of c (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [093-002])
b process_profile_of c holds when b proper_occurrent_part_of c& there is some proper_occurrent_part d of c which has no parts in common with b & is mutually dependent on b& is such that b, c and d occupy the same temporal region (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [094-005])
(forall (x y) (if (processProfileOf x y) (and (properContinuantPartOf x y) (exists (z t) (and (properOccurrentPartOf z y) (TemporalRegion t) (occupiesSpatioTemporalRegion x t) (occupiesSpatioTemporalRegion y t) (occupiesSpatioTemporalRegion z t) (not (exists (w) (and (occurrentPartOf w x) (occurrentPartOf w z))))))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [094-005]
(iff (ProcessProfile a) (exists (b) (and (Process b) (processProfileOf a b)))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [093-002]
process profile
a marriage bond, an instance of love, an obligation between one person and another.
b is a relational quality = Def. for some independent continuants c, d and for some time t: b quality_of c at t & b quality_of d at t. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [057-001])
(iff (RelationalQuality a) (exists (b c t) (and (IndependentContinuant b) (IndependentContinuant c) (qualityOfAt a b t) (qualityOfAt a c t)))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [057-001]
relational quality
a two-dimensional continuant fiat boundary (surface) is a self-connected fiat surface whose location is defined in relation to some material entity. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [033-001])
(iff (TwoDimensionalContinuantFiatBoundary a) (and (ContinuantFiatBoundary a) (exists (b) (and (TwoDimensionalSpatialRegion b) (forall (t) (locatedInAt a b t)))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [033-001]
two-dimensional continuant fiat boundary
the geographic North Pole
the point of origin of some spatial coordinate system.
the quadripoint where the boundaries of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona meet
zero dimension continuant fiat boundaries are not spatial points. Considering the example 'the quadripoint where the boundaries of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona meet' : There are many frames in which that point is zooming through many points in space. Whereas, no matter what the frame, the quadripoint is always in the same relation to the boundaries of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona.
a zero-dimensional continuant fiat boundary is a fiat point whose location is defined in relation to some material entity. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [031-001])
(iff (ZeroDimensionalContinuantFiatBoundary a) (and (ContinuantFiatBoundary a) (exists (b) (and (ZeroDimensionalSpatialRegion b) (forall (t) (locatedInAt a b t)))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [031-001]
zero-dimensional continuant fiat boundary
a temporal region that is occupied by a process boundary
right now
the moment at which a child is born
the moment at which a finger is detached in an industrial accident
the moment of death.
temporal instant.
A zero-dimensional temporal region is a temporal region that is without extent. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [102-001])
(forall (x) (if (ZeroDimensionalTemporalRegion x) (TemporalRegion x))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [102-001]
zero-dimensional temporal region
Relates an entity in the ontology to the name of the variable that is used to represent it in the code that generates the BFO OWL file from the lispy specification.
Really of interest to developers only
BFO OWL specification label
Relates an entity in the ontology to the term that is used to represent it in the the CLIF specification of BFO2
BFO CLIF specification label
A history is a process that is the sum of the totality of processes taking place in the spatiotemporal region occupied by a material entity or site, including processes on the surface of the entity or within the cavities to which it serves as host. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [138-001])
history
A reference to a place on the Earth, by its name or by its geographical location.
conditional specification
a directive information entity that specifies what should happen if the trigger condition is fulfilled
PlanAndPlannedProcess Branch
OBI branch derived
example to be eventually removed
measurement unit label
Examples of measurement unit labels are liters, inches, weight per volume.
A measurement unit label is as a label that is part of a scalar measurement datum and denotes a unit of measure.
2009-03-16: provenance: a term measurement unit was proposed for OBI (OBI_0000176) , edited by Chris Stoeckert and Cristian Cocos, and subsequently moved to IAO where the objective for which the original term was defined was satisfied with the definition of this, different, term.
2009-03-16: review of this term done during during the OBI workshop winter 2009 and the current definition was considered acceptable for use in OBI. If there is a need to modify this definition please notify OBI.
PERSON: Alan Ruttenberg
PERSON: Melanie Courtot
has measurement value
objective specification
In the protocol of a ChIP assay the objective specification says to identify protein and DNA interaction.
a directive information entity that describes an intended process endpoint. When part of a plan specification the concretization is realized in a planned process in which the bearer tries to effect the world so that the process endpoint is achieved.
2009-03-16: original definition when imported from OBI read: "objective is an non realizable information entity which can serve as that proper part of a plan towards which the realization of the plan is directed."
2014-03-31: In the example of usage ("In the protocol of a ChIP assay the objective specification says to identify protein and DNA interaction") there is a protocol which is the ChIP assay protocol. In addition to being concretized on paper, the protocol can be concretized as a realizable entity, such as a plan that inheres in a person. The objective specification is the part that says that some protein and DNA interactions are identified. This is a specification of a process endpoint: the boundary in the process before which they are not identified and after which they are. During the realization of the plan, the goal is to get to the point of having the interactions, and participants in the realization of the plan try to do that.
Answers the question, why did you do this experiment?
PERSON: Barry Smith
PERSON: Bjoern Peters
PERSON: Jennifer Fostel
goal specification
OBI Plan and Planned Process/Roles Branch
narrative object
Examples of narrative objects are reports, journal articles, and patents submission.
A narrative object is an information content entity that is a set of propositions.
2009-08-10 Alan Ruttenberg: Larry Hunter suggests that this be obsoleted and replaced by 'textual entity' and 'figure'. Alan restored as there are OBI dependencies and this merits further discussion
agree - DENRIE. Issue(alan) do we only mean text? What about a story told by mime. Does music count? (no) what about an oral report. Regarding definition, saying it is a set of propositions means we loose the idea that wording matters. Maybe adjust saying a narrative object has some relationshop to a set of propositions
person:Chris Stoeckert
Pour the contents of flask 1 into flask 2
a directive information entity that describes an action the bearer will take
Alan Ruttenberg
OBI Plan and Planned Process branch
action specification
datum label
A label is a symbol that is part of some other datum and is used to either partially define the denotation of that datum or to provide a means for identifying the datum as a member of the set of data with the same label
GROUP: IAO
9/22/11 BP: changed the rdfs:label for this class from 'label' to 'datum label' to convey that this class is not intended to cover all kinds of labels (stickers, radiolabels, etc.), and not even all kind of textual labels, but rather the kind of labels occuring in a datum.
software
Software is a plan specification composed of a series of instructions that can be interpreted by or directly executed by a processing unit.
see sourceforge tracker discussion at http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1958818&group_id=177891&atid=886178
PERSON: Chris Stoeckert
GROUP: OBI
obsolete_digital entity
A digital entity is an information entity which is a collection of bits that can be interpreted by a computer. Two digital entities are the same if they are bitwise identical.
3/22/2009 Alan Ruttenberg, obsoleted per http://groups.google.com/group/information-ontology/browse_thread/thread/789ad4b7708d5cf4 Superclass was 'digitial quality'
obsolete2_digital entity
journal article
Examples are articles published in the journals, Nature and Science. The content can often be cited by reference to a paper based encoding, e.g. Authors, Title of article, Journal name, date or year of publication, volume and page number.
a report that is published in a journal
person:Alan Ruttenberg
information carrier
In the case of a printed paperback novel the physicality of the ink and of the paper form part of the information bearer. The qualities of appearing black and having a certain pattern for the ink and appearing white for the paper form part of the information carrier in this case.
A quality of an information bearer that imparts the information content
12/15/09: There is a concern that some ways that carry information may be processes rather than qualities, such as in a 'delayed wave carrier'.
2014-03-10: We are not certain that all information carriers are qualities. There was a discussion of dropping it.
Smith, Ceusters, Ruttenberg, 2000 years of philosophy
model number
A model number is an information content entity specifically borne by catalogs, design specifications, advertising materials, inventory systems and similar that is about manufactured objects of the same class. The model number is an alternative term for the class. The manufactered objects may or may not also bear the model number. Model numbers can be encoded in a variety of other information objects, such as bar codes, numerals, or patterns of dots.
manufactered items may have more than one model number, sometimes by rebranding, or because companies are sold and the products issued new model numbers
Person: Alan Ruttenberg
binary digital entity
MS Word document, ZIP file, DICOM file, JPEG file
A binary digital entity is a digital entity that is encoded in a way that is not easily human readable and that contains other than text characters.
3/22/2009 Alan Ruttenberg, obsoleted per http://groups.google.com/group/information-ontology/browse_thread/thread/789ad4b7708d5cf4 Superclass was 'digital entity'
digital_entity
obsolete2_binary digital entity
a unit of measure is the quality of some material entity compared to which another quality is some multiple of.
programming language
R, Perl, Java
A language in which source code is written that is intended to be executed/run by a software interpreter. Programming languages are ways to write instructions that specify what to do, and sometimes, how to do it.
data item
Data items include counts of things, analyte concentrations, and statistical summaries.
a data item is an information content entity that is intended to be a truthful statement about something (modulo, e.g., measurement precision or other systematic errors) and is constructed/acquired by a method which reliably tends to produce (approximately) truthful statements.
2/2/2009 Alan and Bjoern discussing FACS run output data. This is a data item because it is about the cell population. Each element records an event and is typically further composed a set of measurment data items that record the fluorescent intensity stimulated by one of the lasers.
2009-03-16: data item deliberatly ambiguous: we merged data set and datum to be one entity, not knowing how to define singular versus plural. So data item is more general than datum.
2009-03-16: removed datum as alternative term as datum specifically refers to singular form, and is thus not an exact synonym.
2014-03-31: See discussion at http://odontomachus.wordpress.com/2014/03/30/aboutness-objects-propositions/
JAR: datum -- well, this will be very tricky to define, but maybe some information-like stuff that might be put into a computer and that is meant, by someone, to denote and/or to be interpreted by some process... I would include lists, tables, sentences... I think I might defer to Barry, or to Brian Cantwell Smith JAR: A data item is an approximately justified approximately true approximate belief
PERSON: Jonathan Rees
data
symbol
a serial number such as "12324X"
a stop sign
a written proper name such as "OBI"
An information content entity that is a mark(s) or character(s) used as a conventional representation of another entity.
20091104, MC: this needs work and will most probably change
2014-03-31: We would like to have a deeper analysis of 'mark' and 'sign' in the future (see https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/IAO/issues/154).
PERSON: James A. Overton
based on Oxford English Dictionary
numeral
A symbol that denotes a number.
information content entity
Examples of information content entites include journal articles, data, graphical layouts, and graphs.
A generically dependent continuant that is about some thing.
2014-03-10: The use of "thing" is intended to be general enough to include universals and configurations (see https://groups.google.com/d/msg/information-ontology/GBxvYZCk1oc/-L6B5fSBBTQJ).
information_content_entity 'is_encoded_in' some digital_entity in obi before split (040907). information_content_entity 'is_encoded_in' some physical_document in obi before split (040907). Previous. An information content entity is a non-realizable information entity that 'is encoded in' some digital or physical entity.
integer numeral
a numeral that denotes an integer
10 feet. 3 ml.
a scalar measurement datum is a measurement datum that is composed of two parts, numerals and a unit label.
2009-03-16: we decided to keep datum singular in scalar measurement datum, as in this case we explicitly refer to the singular form
Would write this as: has_part some 'measurement unit label' and has_part some numeral and has_part exactly 2, except for the fact that this won't let us take advantage of OWL reasoning over the numbers. Instead use has measurment value property to represent the same. Use has measurement unit label (subproperty of has_part) so we can easily say that there is only one of them.
scalar measurement datum
An information content entity whose concretizations indicate to their bearer how to realize them in a process.
2009-03-16: provenance: a term realizable information entity was proposed for OBI (OBI_0000337) , edited by the PlanAndPlannedProcess branch. Original definition was "is the specification of a process that can be concretized and realized by an actor" with alternative term "instruction".It has been subsequently moved to IAO where the objective for which the original term was defined was satisfied with the definitionof this, different, term.
2013-05-30 Alan Ruttenberg: What differentiates a directive information entity from an information concretization is that it can have concretizations that are either qualities or realizable entities. The concretizations that are realizable entities are created when an individual chooses to take up the direction, i.e. has the intention to (try to) realize it.
8/6/2009 Alan Ruttenberg: Changed label from "information entity about a realizable" after discussions at ICBO
Werner pushed back on calling it realizable information entity as it isn't realizable. However this name isn't right either. An example would be a recipe. The realizable entity would be a plan, but the information entity isn't about the plan, it, once concretized, *is* the plan. -Alan
directive information entity
time trigger
revisit?
obsolete_study interpretation
A study interpretation is a textual entity about the implications of a study result. Examples include discussion of whether a hypothesis is false, whether the study failed to address the hypothesis, and whether the study results have led to new hypotheses
2009-03-16: definition was "A conclusion is a narrative object which can be published in a paper summerizing and interpreting a protocol application."
2009-03-16: work has been done on this term during during the OBI workshop winter 2009 and the current definition was considered acceptable for use in OBI. If there is a need to modify this definition please notify OBI.
The obsoleting of narrative object required a modest change in the definition of this term. Circularity with "interpretation... interprets" has been removed, using "about the implications" instead.
Lawrence Hunter
dot plot
Dot plot of SSC-H and FSC-H.
A dot plot is a report graph which is a graphical representation of data where each data point is represented by a single dot placed on coordinates corresponding to data point values in particular dimensions.
person:Allyson Lister
graph
A diagram that presents one or more tuples of information by mapping those tuples in to a two dimensional space in a non arbitrary way.
PERSON: Lawrence Hunter
has measurement unit label
text based digital entity
XML file, C++ source code file
A text based digital entity is a digital entity that is encoded so that it only contains text characters.
3/22/2009 Alan Ruttenberg, obsoleted per http://groups.google.com/group/information-ontology/browse_thread/thread/789ad4b7708d5cf4 superclass was 'digital document'
obsolete2_text based digital entity
rule
example to be added
a rule is an executable which guides, defines, restricts actions
MSI
PRS
contour plot
Contour plot of SSC-H, FSC-H, and FL1-H.
generically_dependent_continuants
group:Flow Cytometry community
report figure
A report figure is a report display element that has some aspect of illustration, but may be a composite of figures, images, and other elements
I prepended the 'report ' to make it clear that we mean parts of reports here. We may want a more generic version of 'figure', in which case this would become a defined class - figure and part_of some report
Replaced by defined version of figure
obsolete2_report figure
algorithm
PMID: 18378114.Genomics. 2008 Mar 28. LINKGEN: A new algorithm to process data in genetic linkage studies.
A plan specification which describes the inputs and output of mathematical functions as well as workflow of execution for achieving an predefined objective. Algorithms are realized usually by means of implementation as computer programs for execution by automata.
Philippe Rocca-Serra
adapted from discussion on OBI list (Matthew Pocock, Christian Cocos, Alan Ruttenberg)
software interpreter
R program, Perl interpreter, Java virtual machine
A software interpreter is a software application that executes some specified input software.
Do we care? Jennifer: Yes, there was a particular version of R that had a bug and it was fixed later. That would imply that we mean specific version of an interpreter. So an instance of this would be a particular version of the interpreter
curation status specification
The curation status of the term. The allowed values come from an enumerated list of predefined terms. See the specification of these instances for more detailed definitions of each enumerated value.
Better to represent curation as a process with parts and then relate labels to that process (in IAO meeting)
PERSON:Bill Bug
density plot
Density plot of SSC-H and FSC-H.
A density plot is a report graph which is a graphical representation of data where the tint of a particular pixel corresponds to some kind of function corresponding the the amount of data points relativelly with their distance from the the pixel.
report
Examples of reports are gene lists and investigation reports. These are not published (journal) articles but may be included in a journal article.
a document assembled by an author for the purpose of providing information for the audience. A report is the output of a documenting process and has the objective to be consumed by a specific audience. Topic of the report is on something that has completed. A report is not a single figure. Examples of reports are journal article, patent application, grant progress report, case report (not patient record)
2009-03-16: comment from Darren Natale: I am slightly uneasy with the sentence "Topic of the report is on something that has completed." Should it be restricted to those things that are completed? For example, a progress report is (usually) about something that definitely has *not* been completed, or may include (only) projections. I think the definition would not suffer if the whole sentence is deleted.
2009-03-16: this was report of results with definition: A report is a narrative object that is a formal statement of the results of an investigation, or of any matter on which definite information is required, made by some person or body instructed or required to do so.
2009-08-10 Alan Ruttenberg: Larry Hunter suggests that this be obsoleted and replaced by 'document'. Alan restored as there are OBI dependencies and this merits further discussion
disagreement about where reports go. alan: only some gene lists are reports. Is a report all the content of some document? The example of usage suggests that a report may be part of some article. Term needs clarification
PERSON:Chris Stoeckert
report element
A report element is a narrative object in which information is presented and consumed by a human being, and is part of a report. Examples of report elements are figure (dot plot), table, text portion (may include a movie or audio clip on a web page).
2009-03-16: needs some more work (clarify relations).
2009-03-16: was report display element with definition: A report display element is a narrative object that is part of a report. Report display elements are set off from the textual parts of a report and are typically given a label(e.g. Figure 2) which is used to refer to the element from the text. Typically the 2d layout is part of the identity of such elements.
There will be some issue here about whether these are defined classes. As intended these are meant to denote the parts of the report that are not textual but are typically boxed and set within the text, labelled with some identifier, and referred to in the text
PERSON: Allyson Lister
obsolete_report element
binary executable
Binary executable is a digital entity consisting of the binary representation of machine instructions of a specific processor or they may be binary pseudocode for a virtual machine. A non-source executable file is also called an object program. It is assumed that the binary executable file contains properly-formatted computer instructions. (derived from Wikipedia, Nov 1, 2007)
3/22/2009 Alan Ruttenberg, obsoleted per http://groups.google.com/group/information-ontology/browse_thread/thread/789ad4b7708d5cf4 superclass was 'digital entity'
person:Jennifer Fostel
obsolete2_binary executable
source code module
The written source code that implements part of an algorithm. Test - if you know that it was written in a specific language, then it can be source code module. We mean here, roughly, the wording of a document such as a perl script.
A source code module is a directive information entity that specifies, using a programming language, some algorithm.
report table
A report table is a report display element consisting of a matrix of cells layed out in a grid, some set of which are filled with some information content
2009-08-10 Alan Ruttenberg: Larry Hunter suggests that this be obsoleted and replaced by 'textual entity table'. Alan restored as there are OBI dependencies and this merits further discussion
obsolete_report table
data format specification
A data format specification is the information content borne by the document published defining the specification. Example: The ISO document specifying what encompasses an XML document; The instructions in a XSD file
2009-03-16: provenance: term imported from OBI_0000187, which had original definition "A data format specification is a plan which organizes information. Example: The ISO document specifying what encompasses an XML document; The instructions in a XSD file"
data set
Intensity values in a CEL file or from multiple CEL files comprise a data set (as opposed to the CEL files themselves).
A data item that is an aggregate of other data items of the same type that have something in common. Averages and distributions can be determined for data sets.
2009/10/23 Alan Ruttenberg. The intention is that this term represent collections of like data. So this isn't for, e.g. the whole contents of a cel file, which includes parameters, metadata etc. This is more like java arrays of a certain rather specific type
2014-05-05: Data sets are aggregates and thus must include two or more data items. We have chosen not to add logical axioms to make this restriction.
image
An image is an affine projection to a two dimensional surface, of measurements of some quality of an entity or entities repeated at regular intervals across a spatial range, where the measurements are represented as color and luminosity on the projected on surface.
data about an ontology part is a data item about a part of an ontology, for example a term
data about an ontology part
The term was used in an attempt to structure part of the ontology but in retrospect failed to do a good job
failed exploratory term
plan specification
PMID: 18323827.Nat Med. 2008 Mar;14(3):226.New plan proposed to help resolve conflicting medical advice.
A directive information entity with action specifications and objective specifications as parts that, when concretized, is realized in a process in which the bearer tries to achieve the objectives by taking the actions specified.
2009-03-16: provenance: a term a plan was proposed for OBI (OBI_0000344) , edited by the PlanAndPlannedProcess branch. Original definition was " a plan is a specification of a process that is realized by an actor to achieve the objective specified as part of the plan". It has been subsequently moved to IAO where the objective for which the original term was defined was satisfied with the definitionof this, different, term.
2014-03-31: A plan specification can have other parts, such as conditional specifications.
Alternative previous definition: a plan is a set of instructions that specify how an objective should be achieved
2/3/2009 Comment from OBI review. Action specification not well enough specified. Conditional specification not well enough specified. Question whether all plan specifications have objective specifications. Request that IAO either clarify these or change definitions not to use them
digital document
A digital document is a digital entity consisting of an electronic file which can be rendered into human-readable form by one or more computational applications. The digital document does not refer to the information content of the document but to an instance of the file.
3/22/2009 Alan Ruttenberg, obsoleted per http://groups.google.com/group/information-ontology/browse_thread/thread/789ad4b7708d5cf4 superclass was 'digial entity'
obsolete2_digital document
measurement datum
Examples of measurement data are the recoding of the weight of a mouse as {40,mass,"grams"}, the recording of an observation of the behavior of the mouse {,process,"agitated"}, the recording of the expression level of a gene as measured through the process of microarray experiment {3.4,luminosity,}.
A measurement datum is an information content entity that is a recording of the output of a measurement such as produced by a device.
2/2/2009 is_specified_output of some assay?
editor preferred term
The concise, meaningful, and human-friendly name for a class or property preferred by the ontology developers. (US-English)
PERSON:Daniel Schober
A phrase describing how a term should be used and/or a citation to a work which uses it. May also include other kinds of examples that facilitate immediate understanding, such as widely know prototypes or instances of a class, or cases where a relation is said to hold.
example of usage
in branch
An annotation property indicating which module the terms belong to. This is currently experimental and not implemented yet.
has curation status
PERSON:Alan Ruttenberg
PERSON:Melanie Courtot
definition
The official definition, explaining the meaning of a class or property. Shall be Aristotelian, formalized and normalized. Can be augmented with colloquial definitions.
2012-04-05: Barry Smith The official OBI definition, explaining the meaning of a class or property: 'Shall be Aristotelian, formalized and normalized. Can be augmented with colloquial definitions' is terrible. Can you fix to something like: A statement of necessary and sufficient conditions explaining the meaning of an expression referring to a class or property. Alan Ruttenberg Your proposed definition is a reasonable candidate, except that it is very common that necessary and sufficient conditions are not given. Mostly they are necessary, occasionally they are necessary and sufficient or just sufficient. Often they use terms that are not themselves defined and so they effectively can't be evaluated by those criteria. On the specifics of the proposed definition: We don't have definitions of 'meaning' or 'expression' or 'property'. For 'reference' in the intended sense I think we use the term 'denotation'. For 'expression', I think we you mean symbol, or identifier. For 'meaning' it differs for class and property. For class we want documentation that let's the intended reader determine whether an entity is instance of the class, or not. For property we want documentation that let's the intended reader determine, given a pair of potential relata, whether the assertion that the relation holds is true. The 'intended reader' part suggests that we also specify who, we expect, would be able to understand the definition, and also generalizes over human and computer reader to include textual and logical definition. Personally, I am more comfortable weakening definition to documentation, with instructions as to what is desirable. We also have the outstanding issue of how to aim different definitions to different audiences. A clinical audience reading chebi wants a different sort of definition documentation/definition from a chemistry trained audience, and similarly there is a need for a definition that is adequate for an ontologist to work with.
editor note
An administrative note intended for its editor. It may not be included in the publication version of the ontology, so it should contain nothing necessary for end users to understand the ontology.
term editor
Name of editor entering the term in the file. The term editor is a point of contact for information regarding the term. The term editor may be, but is not always, the author of the definition, which may have been worked upon by several people
20110707, MC: label update to term editor and definition modified accordingly. See https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/IAO/issues/115.
alternative term
An alternative name for a class or property which means the same thing as the preferred name (semantically equivalent)
definition source
formal citation, e.g. identifier in external database to indicate / attribute source(s) for the definition. Free text indicate / attribute source(s) for the definition. EXAMPLE: Author Name, URI, MeSH Term C04, PUBMED ID, Wiki uri on 31.01.2007
Discussion on obo-discuss mailing-list, see http://bit.ly/hgm99w
Class has all its metadata, but is either not guaranteed to be in its final location in the asserted IS_A hierarchy or refers to another class that is not complete.
metadata complete
term created to ease viewing/sort terms for development purpose, and will not be included in a release
organizational term
Class has undergone final review, is ready for use, and will be included in the next release. Any class lacking "ready_for_release" should be considered likely to change place in hierarchy, have its definition refined, or be obsoleted in the next release. Those classes deemed "ready_for_release" will also derived from a chain of ancestor classes that are also "ready_for_release."
ready for release
Class is being worked on; however, the metadata (including definition) are not complete or sufficiently clear to the branch editors.
metadata incomplete
Nothing done yet beyond assigning a unique class ID and proposing a preferred term.
uncurated
All definitions, placement in the asserted IS_A hierarchy and required minimal metadata are complete. The class is awaiting a final review by someone other than the term editor.
pending final vetting
_identifier is a container under information content entity for collecting types of terms to indicate a specific instance or clas of what was used or participated in an investigation. Identifiers are borne by a product or its packaging, and can be encoded in a variety of other information objects, such as bar codes, numerals, or patterns of dots. Note: everybody agreed that identifier is probably a too general term. We however felt that it would be appropriate to group "identifiying" terms under some kind of umbrella. We therefore propose to use _identifier for that purpose. As per OBI conventions, the _ prefixing identifier indicates that this is a helper class and shouldn't be considered as final.
version number
A version number is an information content entity which is a sequence of characters borne by part of each of a class of manufactured products or its packaging and indicates its order within a set of other products having the same name.
Note: we feel that at the moment we are happy with a general version number, and that we will subclass as needed in the future. For example, see 7. genome sequence version
serial number
A serial number is an information content entity which is a unique sequence of characters borne by part of manufactured product or its packaging that is assigned to each individual in some class of products, and so can serve as a way to identify an individual product within the class. Serial numbers can be encoded in a variety of other information objects, such as bar codes, numerals, or patterns of dots.
Note: during the call there was some confusion between serial number and model number. We agreed that it would be very helpful for all those terms to have example of usages - please add if you have any :-)
lot number
A lot number is an information content entity which is an identical sequence of character borne by part of manufactured product or its packaging for each instances of a product class in a discrete batch of an item. Lot numbers are usually assigned to each separate production run of an item. Manufacturing as a lot might be due to a variety of reasons, for example, a single process during which many individuals are made from the same portion of source material. Lot numbers can be encoded in a pattern of other information objects, such as bar codes, numerals, or patterns of dots.
batch number
The process of creation is, for example, writing down on paper the name of a friend by deliberately creating a certain pattern using ink. Here the ink + paper is the independent continuant and the carrier is the pattern in the ink. c = pattern in the ink b = paper + ink r = friend
c specifically denotes r =def r is a portion of reality & c is a particular quality & c depends specifically on some independent continuant b & b acquired c as the result of the achievement of an objective to enable pointing to r repeatedly. Marked means there is a changed or additional quality of the bearer - the quality is the information carrier. Case 1 Memory trace as mark created when reading some description of some friend. The trace can denote. Case 2 Pattern of ink arrayed on paper as mark when writing down a friend's name Case 3 Pattern of magnetic domains on scattered pieces of a hard disk platter as mark when saving a file.
8/6/2009 Alan Ruttenberg: The suggestions is to deprecate specific and generically denotes in favor of a single denote relationship that corresponds to the generic sense
see https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/IAO/issues/25&q=denote
This document is about information artifacts and their representations
is_about is a (currently) primitive relation that relates an information artifact to an entity.
7/6/2009 Alan Ruttenberg. Following discussion with Jonathan Rees, and introduction of "mentions" relation. Weaken the is_about relationship to be primitive. We will try to build it back up by elaborating the various subproperties that are more precisely defined. Some currently missing phenomena that should be considered "about" are predications - "The only person who knows the answer is sitting beside me" , Allegory, Satire, and other literary forms that can be topical without explicitly mentioning the topic.
is about
A settings datum is a datum that denotes some configuration of an instrument.
2/3/2009 Feedback from OBI This should be a "setting specification". There is a question of whether it is information about a realizable or not. Pro other specification are about realizables. Cons sometimes specifies a quality which is not a realizable.
Alan grouped these in placeholder for the moment. Name by analogy to measurement datum.
setting datum
3/22/2009 Alan Ruttenberg, obsoleted per http://groups.google.com/group/information-ontology/browse_thread/thread/789ad4b7708d5cf4
Need to rework digital entity. Digital quality was suggested by Barry.
An information artifact IA mentions an entity E exactly when it has a component/part that denotes E
7/6/2009 Alan Ruttenberg. P4 RC1 munges our GCI so remove it for now: mentions some entity equivalentTo has_part some ('generically denotes' some entity)
7/6/2009 Alan Ruttenberg: Add this relation following conversation with Jonathan Rees that N&S GCI for is_about was too strong. Really it was simply sufficient. To effect this change we introduce this relation, which is subproperty of is_about, and have previous GCI use this relation "mentions" in it's (logical) definition
mentions
conclusion textual entity
that fucoidan has a small statistically significant effect on AT3 level but no useful clinical effect as in-vivo anticoagulant, a paraphrase of part of the last paragraph of the discussion section of the paper 'Pilot clinical study to evaluate the anticoagulant activity of fucoidan', by Lowenthal et. al.PMID:19696660
A textual entity that expresses the results of reasoning about a problem, for instance as typically found towards the end of scientific papers.
2009/09/28 Alan Ruttenberg. Fucoidan-use-case
2009/10/23 Alan Ruttenberg: We need to work on the definition still
Person:Alan Ruttenberg
material information bearer
A page of a paperback novel with writing on it. The paper itself is a material information bearer, the pattern of ink is the information carrier.
a brain
a hard drive
A material entity in which a concretization of an information content entity inheres.
histogram
A histogram is a report graph which is a statistical description of a distribution in terms of occurrence frequencies of different event classes.
PERSON:James Malone
heatmap
A heatmap is a report graph which is a graphical representation of data where the values taken by a variable(s) are shown as colors in a two-dimensional map.
Venn diagram
A Venn diagram is a report graph showing all hypothetically possible logical relations between a finite collection of sets.
WEB: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venn_diagram
obsolete_survival curve
A survival curve is a report graph which is a graphical representation of data where the percentage of survival is plotted as a function of time.
WEB: http://www.graphpad.com/www/book/survive.htm
dendrogram
Dendrograms are often used in computational biology to illustrate the clustering of genes.
A dendrogram is a report graph which is a tree diagram frequently used to illustrate the arrangement of the clusters produced by a clustering algorithm.
WEB: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrogram
scatter plot
Comparison of gene expression values in two samples can be displayed in a scatter plot
A scatterplot is a graph which uses Cartesian coordinates to display values for two variables for a set of data. The data is displayed as a collection of points, each having the value of one variable determining the position on the horizontal axis and the value of the other variable determining the position on the vertical axis.
scattergraph
WEB: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scatterplot
A photograph is created by projecting an image onto a photosensitive surface such as a chemically treated plate or film, CCD receptor, etc.
PERSON:Joanne Luciano
WEB: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/photograph
photograph
photographic print
A photographic print is a material entity upon which a photograph generically depends.
A person's name denotes the person. A variable name in a computer program denotes some piece of memory. Lexically equivalent strings can denote different things, for instance "Alan" can denote different people. In each case of use, there is a case of the denotation relation obtaining, between "Alan" and the person that is being named.
denotes is a primitive, instance-level, relation obtaining between an information content entity and some portion of reality. Denotation is what happens when someone creates an information content entity E in order to specifically refer to something. The only relation between E and the thing is that E can be used to 'pick out' the thing. This relation connects those two together. Freedictionary.com sense 3: To signify directly; refer to specifically
2009-11-10 Alan Ruttenberg. Old definition said the following to emphasize the generic nature of this relation. We no longer have 'specifically denotes', which would have been primitive, so make this relation primitive. g denotes r =def r is a portion of reality there is some c that is a concretization of g every c that is a concretization of g specifically denotes r
Conversations with Barry Smith, Werner Ceusters, Bjoern Peters, Michel Dumontier, Melanie Courtot, James Malone, Bill Hogan
denotes
m is a quality measurement of q at t when q is a quality there is a measurement process p that has specified output m, a measurement datum, that is about q
8/6/2009 Alan Ruttenberg: The strategy is to be rather specific with this relationship. There are other kinds of measurements that are not of qualities, such as those that measure time. We will add these as separate properties for the moment and see about generalizing later
From the second IAO workshop [Alan Ruttenberg 8/6/2009: not completely current, though bringing in comparison is probably important] This one is the one we are struggling with at the moment. The issue is what a measurement measures. On the one hand saying that it measures the quality would include it "measuring" the bearer = referring to the bearer in the measurement. However this makes comparisons of two different things not possible. On the other hand not having it inhere in the bearer, on the face of it, breaks the audit trail. Werner suggests a solution based on "Magnitudes" a proposal for which we are awaiting details. -- From the second IAO workshop, various comments, [commented on by Alan Ruttenberg 8/6/2009] unit of measure is a quality, e.g. the length of a ruler. [We decided to hedge on what units of measure are, instead talking about measurement unit labels, which are the information content entities that are about whatever measurement units are. For IAO we need that information entity in any case. See the term measurement unit label] [Some struggling with the various subflavors of is_about. We subsequently removed the relation represents, and describes until and only when we have a better theory] a represents b means either a denotes b or a describes describe: a describes b means a is about b and a allows an inference of at least one quality of b We have had a long discussion about denotes versus describes.
From the second IAO workshop: An attempt at tieing the quality to the measurement datum more carefully. a is a magnitude means a is a determinate quality particular inhering in some bearer b existing at a time t that can be represented/denoted by an information content entity e that has parts denoting a unit of measure, a number, and b. The unit of measure is an instance of the determinable quality.
From the second meeting on IAO: An attempt at defining assay using Barry's "reliability" wording assay: process and has_input some material entity and has_output some information content entity and which is such that instances of this process type reliably generate outputs that describes the input.
This one is the one we are struggling with at the moment. The issue is what a measurement measures. On the one hand saying that it measures the quality would include it "measuring" the bearer = referring to the bearer in the measurement. However this makes comparisons of two different things not possible. On the other hand not having it inhere in the bearer, on the face of it, breaks the audit trail. Werner suggests a solution based on "Magnitudes" a proposal for which we are awaiting details.
is quality measurement of
Core is an instance of a grouping of terms from an ontology or ontologies. It is used by the ontology to identify main classes.
core
obsolescence reason specification
The reason for which a term has been deprecated. The allowed values come from an enumerated list of predefined terms. See the specification of these instances for more detailed definitions of each enumerated value.
The creation of this class has been inspired in part by Werner Ceusters' paper, Applying evolutionary terminology auditing to the Gene Ontology.
placeholder removed
An editor note should explain what were the merged terms and the reason for the merge.
terms merged
This is to be used when the original term has been replaced by a term imported from an other ontology. An editor note should indicate what is the URI of the new term to use.
term imported
This is to be used when a term has been split in two or more new terms. An editor note should indicate the reason for the split and indicate the URIs of the new terms created.
term split
This is to be used if none of the existing instances cover the reason for obsolescence. An editor note should indicate this new reason.
We expect to be able to mine these new reasons and add instances as required.
other
has obsolescence reason
Relates an annotation property to an obsolescence reason. The values of obsolescence reasons come from a list of predefined terms, instances of the class obsolescence reason specification.
curator note
An administrative note of use for a curator but of no use for a user
the URI for an OBI Terms ticket at sourceforge, such as https://sourceforge.net/p/obi/obi-terms/772/
An IRI or similar locator for a request or discussion of an ontology term.
Person: Jie Zheng, Chris Stoeckert, Alan Ruttenberg
The 'tracker item' can associate a tracker with a specific ontology term.
term tracker item
The name of the person, project, or organization that motivated inclusion of an ontology term by requesting its addition.
The 'term requester' can credit the person, organization or project who request the ontology term.
ontology term requester
textual entity
Words, sentences, paragraphs, and the written (non-figure) parts of publications are all textual entities
A textual entity is a part of a manifestation (FRBR sense), a generically dependent continuant whose concretizations are patterns of glyphs intended to be interpreted as words, formulas, etc.
AR, (IAO call 2009-09-01): a document as a whole is not typically a textual entity, because it has pictures in it - rather there are parts of it that are textual entities. Examples: The title, paragraph 2 sentence 7, etc.
MC, 2009-09-14 (following IAO call 2009-09-01): textual entities live at the FRBR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_Requirements_for_Bibliographic_Records) manifestation level. Everything is significant: line break, pdf and html versions of same document are different textual entities.
text
citation
Verspoor, K., Cohen, KB., Hunter, L. Textual characteristics of traditional and Open Access scientific journals are similar, BMC Bioinformatics 2009, 10:183.
a textual entity intended to identify a particular publication
author identification
L. Hunter
A textual entity intended to identify a particular author
institutional identification
University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine
A textual entity intended to identify a particular institution
caption
Figure 1: A system diagram describing the modules of the Hanalyzer. Reading methods (green) take external sources of knowledge (blue) and extract information from them, either by parsing structured data or biomedical language processing to extract information from unstructured data. Reading modules are responsible for tracking the provenance of all knowledge. Reasoning methods (yellow) enrich the knowledge that results from reading by, for example, noting two genes that are annotated to the same ontology term or database entry. All knowledge sources, read or reasoned, are assigned a reliability score, and all are combined using that score into a knowledge network (orange) that represents the integration of all sorts of relationship between a pair of genes and a combined reliability score. A data network (also orange) is created from experimental results to be analyzed. The reporting modules (pink) integrate the data and knowledge networks, producing visualizations that can be queried with the associated drill-down tool.
A textual entity that describes a figure
document title
Textual characteristics of traditional and Open Access scientific journals are similar
A textual entity that names a document
table
| T F --+----- T | T F F | F F
A textual entity that contains a two-dimensional arrangement of texts repeated at regular intervals across a spatial range, such that the spatial relationships among the constituent texts expresses propositions
table of abbreviations
IAO information artifact ontology OBI ontology of biomedical investiations GO gene ontology
A table where the constituent texts are abbreviations and their expansions
figure
Any picture, diagram or table
An information content entity consisting of a two dimensional arrangement of information content entities such that the arrangement itself is about something.
diagram
A molecular structure ribbon cartoon showing helices, turns and sheets and their relations to each other in space.
A figure that expresses one or more propositions
document
A journal article, patent application, laboratory notebook, or a book
A collection of information content entities intended to be understood together as a whole
publication
A journal article or book
A document that has been accepted by a publisher
publication about an investigation
Most scientific journal articles
A publication that is about an investigation
scientific publication
patent
US Patent 6,449,603
A document that has been accepted by a patent authority
document part
An abstract, introduction, method or results section.
an information content entity that is part of a document
abstract
The profusion of high-throughput instruments and the explosion of new results in the scientific literature, particularly in molecular biomedicine, is both a blessing and a curse to the bench researcher. Even knowledgeable and experienced scientists can benefit from computational tools that help navigate this vast and rapidly evolving terrain. In this paper, we describe a novel computational approach to this challenge, a knowledge-based system that combines reading, reasoning and reporting methods to facilitate analysis of experimental data. Reading methods extract information from external resources, either by parsing structured data or biomedical language processing to extract information from unstructured data, and track knowledge provenance. Reasoning methods enrich the knowledge that results from reading by, for example, noting two genes that are annotated to the same ontology term or database entry. Reasoning is also used to combine all sources into a knowledge network that represents the integration of all sorts of relationships between a pair of genes, and to calculate a combined reliability score. Reporting methods combine the knowledge network with a congruent network constructed from experimental data and visualize the combined network in a tool that facilitates the knowledge-based analysis of that data.
A summary of the entire document that is substantially smaller than the document it summarizes. It is about the document it summarizes.
introduction to a publication about an investigation
Section labelled 'introduction' of a typical scientific journal article
A part of a publication about an investigation that is about the objective specification (why the investigation is being done)
background
introduction
methods section
The section labelled 'Methods' or 'Materials and Methods' in a typical scientific journal article.
A part of a publication about an investigation that is about the study design of the investigation
experimental procedures
experimental section
experimental
methods
results section
The section labelled 'results' in a typical scientific journal article
A part of a publication about an investigation that is about a study design execution
results
discussion section of a publication about an investigation
A part of a publication about an investigation that is about the study interpretation of the investigation
discussion section
discussion
references section
The list of citations found at the end of a scientific publication, grant proposal or patent application, sometimes called "literature cited" or "bibliography"
A part of a document that has citations as parts
author list
Lawrence Hunter and Kevin Brettonel Cohen
part of a document that enumerates the authors of the document
institution list
The University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and the University of Colorado Boulder.
part of a document that has parts that are institution identifications associated with the authors of the document
author contributions section
LH conceived of the hypothesis, designed the study and contributed to the writing of the manuscript. KBC executed the experiments, analyzed the data, and contributed to the writing of the manuscript.
A part of a publication that is about the specific contributions of each author
author contributions
contributions by the authors
acknowledgements section
The authors wish to thank Alan Ruttenberg for his constructive comments about an earlier draft of this manuscript
Part of a publication that is about the contributions of people or institutions other than the authors.
acknowledgements
acknowledgments
footnote
The referent in the text is usually indicated by a special typographic character such as * or a superscripted number, which is also used to indicate the footnote that refers to that text.
A part of a document that is about a specific other part of the document. Usually footnotes are spatially segregated from the rest of the document.
endnote
supplementary material to a document
part of a document that is segregated from the rest of the document due to its size
additional information
appendix
supplemental information
supplementary material
supporting information
table of contents
A table that relates document parts to specific locations in a document (usually page numbers). This is also a document part (subsumption there should be inferred).
table of figures
A table that relates figures in a document to specific locations in that document (usually page numbers). This is also a document part (subsumption there should be inferred).
running title
A shorter version of a document title
copyright section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
A document part that describes legal restrictions on making or distributing copies of the document
A cartesian spatial coordinate datum is a representation of a point in a spatial region, in which equal changes in the magnitude of a coordinate value denote length qualities with the same magnitude
2009-08-18 Alan Ruttenberg - question to BFO list about whether the BFO sense of the lower dimensional regions is that they are always part of actual space (the three dimensional sort) http://groups.google.com/group/bfo-discuss/browse_thread/thread/9d04e717e39fb617
AR notes: We need to discuss whether it should include site.
cartesian spatial coordinate datum
A cartesion spatial coordinate datum that uses one value to specify a position along a one dimensional spatial region
one dimensional cartesian spatial coordinate datum
A cartesion spatial coordinate datum that uses two values to specify a position within a two dimensional spatial region
two dimensional cartesian spatial coordinate datum
A cartesion spatial coordinate datum that uses three values to specify a position within a three dimensional spatial region
three dimensional cartesian spatial coordinate datum
has x coordinate value
has z coordinate value
has y coordinate value
relating a cartesian spatial coordinate datum to a unit label that together with the values represent a point
has coordinate unit label
A scalar measurement datum that is the result of measurement of length quality
length measurement datum
The Basic Formal Ontology ontology makes a distinction between Universals and defined classes, where the formal are "natural kinds" and the latter arbitrary collections of entities.
A denotator type indicates how a term should be interpreted from an ontological perspective.
Hard to give a definition for. Intuitively a "natural kind" rather than a collection of any old things, which a class is able to be, formally. At the meta level, universals are defined as positives, are disjoint with their siblings, have single asserted parents.
A Formal Theory of Substances, Qualities, and Universals, http://ontology.buffalo.edu/bfo/SQU.pdf
is denotator type
relates an class defined in an ontology, to the type of it's denotator
In OWL 2 add AnnotationPropertyRange('is denotator type' 'denotator type')
imported from
For external terms/classes, the ontology from which the term was imported
relates a process to a time-measurement-datum that represents the duration of the process
is duration of
A scalar measurement datum that is the result of measurement of mass quality
mass measurement datum
hypothesis textual entity
A textual entity that expresses an assertion that is intended to be tested.
A scalar measurement datum that is the result of measuring a temporal interval
time measurement datum
inverse of the relation of is quality measurement of
2009/10/19 Alan Ruttenberg. Named 'junk' relation useful in restrictions, but not a real instance relationship
is quality measured as
a relation between a data item and a quality of a material entity where the material entity is the specified output of a material transformation which achieves an objective specification that indicates the intended value of the specified quality.
Person:Bjoern Peters
is quality specification of
inverse of the relation of is quality specification of
quality is specified as
A defined class is a class that is defined by a set of logically necessary and sufficient conditions but is not a universal
"definitions", in some readings, always are given by necessary and sufficient conditions. So one must be careful (and this is difficult sometimes) to distinguish between defined classes and universal.
A named class expression is a logical expression that is given a name. The name can be used in place of the expression.
named class expressions are used in order to have more concise logical definition but their extensions may not be interesting classes on their own. In languages such as OWL, with no provisions for macros, these show up as actuall classes. Tools may with to not show them as such, and to replace uses of the macros with their expansions
A textual entity that is used as directive to deliver something to a person, or organization
2010-05-24 Alan Ruttenberg. Use label for the string representation. See issue https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/IAO/issues/59
postal address
Terms with this status should eventually replaced with a term from another ontology.
to be replaced with external ontology term
expand expression to
ObjectProperty: RO_0002104 Label: has plasma membrane part Annotations: IAO_0000424 "http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BFO_0000051 some (http://purl.org/obo/owl/GO#GO_0005886 and http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BFO_0000051 some ?Y)"
A macro expansion tag applied to an object property (or possibly a data property) which can be used by a macro-expansion engine to generate more complex expressions from simpler ones
expand assertion to
ObjectProperty: RO??? Label: spatially disjoint from Annotations: expand_assertion_to "DisjointClasses: (http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BFO_0000051 some ?X) (http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BFO_0000051 some ?Y)"
A macro expansion tag applied to an annotation property which can be expanded into a more detailed axiom.
Chris Mungall
first order logic expression
antisymmetric property
part_of antisymmetric property xsd:true
use boolean value xsd:true to indicate that the property is an antisymmetric property
A term that is metadata complete, has been reviewed, and problems have been identified that require discussion before release. Such a term requires editor note(s) to identify the outstanding issues.
requires discussion
email address
Alan Ruttenberg 1/3/2012 - Provisional id, see issue at https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/IAO/issues/130&thanks=130&ts=1325636583
Person:Chris Stoeckart
author role
A role inhering in a person or organization that is realized when the bearer participates in the work which is the basis of the document, in the writing of the document, and signs it with their name.
a planned process in which journal articles are read or processed and data items are extracted, typically for further analysis or indexing
data item extraction from journal article
Recording the current temperature in a laboratory notebook. Writing a journal article. Updating a patient record in a database.
a planned process in which a document is created or added to by including the specified input in it.
6/11/9: Edited at OBI workshop. We need to be able identify a child form of information artifact which corresponds to something enduring (not brain like). This used to be restricted to physical document or digital entity as the output, but that excludes e.g. an audio cassette tape
Bjoern Peters
wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documenting
documenting
line graph
A line graph is a type of graph created by connecting a series of data points together with a line.
line chart
WEB: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_chart
A new pubmed ID being created for a journal article, and the associated pubmed record containing information to the journal article. A license plate number registered at the DMV to be belonging to a specific vehicle and owner. Placing a barcode on a product and entering information in a database that this barcode is assigned.
a planned process in which a new CRID is created, associated with an entity, and stored in the CRID registry thereby registering it as being associated with some entity
2014-05-05: It is the CRID registry that assigns CRIDs, not the users of the registry.
Person:Melanie Courtot
assigning a centrally registered identifier
Articles in Pubmed are reviewed by curators who add MESH terms to the Pubmed records in order to categorize them better and improve the ability to search for them.
A planned process in which a CRID registry associates an information content entity with a CRID symbol
associating information with a CRID in the CRID registry
associating information with a centrally registered identifier in its registry
a planned process with the objective to establish a system that allows to refer to specific entities of a certain kind and store information about them, by establishing a CRID registry and plan specifications for the process of 1) assigning a CRID and 2) looking up a CRID.
MC, 20101124: deprecated following discussion at IAO call 20101124. Term was deemed not necessary - no use case for now.
The sentence "The article has Pubmed ID 12345." contains a CRID that has two parts: one part is the CRID symbol, which is '12345'; the other part denotes the CRID registry, which is Pubmed.
A symbol that is part of a CRID and that is sufficient to look up a record from the CRID's registry.
PERSON: Bill Hogan
Original proposal from Bjoern, discussions at IAO calls
centrally registered identifier symbol
An information content entity that consists of a CRID symbol and additional information about the CRID registry to which it belongs.
2014-05-05: In defining this term we take no position on what the CRID denotes. In particular do not assume it denotes a *record* in the CRID registry (since the registry might not have 'records').
Alan, IAO call 20101124: potentially the CRID denotes the instance it was associated with during creation.
Note, IAO call 20101124: URIs are not always CRID, as not centrally registered. We acknowledge that CRID is a subset of a larger identifier class, but this subset fulfills our current needs. OBI PURLs are CRID as they are registered with OCLC. UPCs (Universal Product Codes from AC Nielsen)are not CRID as they are not centrally registered.
centrally registered identifier
PubMed is a CRID registry. It has a dataset of PubMed identifiers associated with journal articles.
A CRID registry is a dataset of CRID records, each consisting of a CRID symbol and additional information which was recorded in the dataset through a assigning a centrally registered identifier process.
centrally registered identifier registry
Going to the PubMed website and entering a PubMed ID in order to retrieve the Pubmed information associated with that ID.
A planned process in which a request to a CRID registry is made to return the information associated with a CRID symbol
looking up a centrally registered identifier
relates a time stamped measurement datum to the time measurement datum that denotes the time when the measurement was taken
has time stamp
time stamped measurement datum
relates a time stamped measurement datum to the measurement datum that was measured
has measurement datum
pmid:20604925 - time-lapse live cell microscopy
A data set that is an aggregate of data recording some measurement at a number of time points. The time series data set is an ordered list of pairs of time measurement data and the corresponding measurement data acquired at that time.
experimental time series
time sampled measurement data set
OBO foundry unique label
An alternative name for a class or property which is unique across the OBO Foundry.
The intended usage of that property is as follow: OBO foundry unique labels are automatically generated based on regular expressions provided by each ontology, so that SO could specify unique label = 'sequence ' + [label], etc. , MA could specify 'mouse + [label]' etc. Upon importing terms, ontology developers can choose to use the 'OBO foundry unique label' for an imported term or not. The same applies to tools .
PERSON:Bjoern Peters
PERSON:Chris Mungall
GROUP:OBO Foundry <http://obofoundry.org/>
written name
"Bill Clinton"
"The Eiffel Tower"
"United States of America"
A textual entity that denotes a particular in reality.
The qualifier "written" is to set it apart from spoken names. Also, note the restrictions to particulars. We are not naming universals. We could however, be naming, attributive collections which are particulars, so "All people located in the boundaries of the city of Little Rock, AR on June 18, 2011 at 9:50a CDT" would be a name.
A software method (also called subroutine, subprogram, procedure, method, function, or routine) is software designed to execute a specific task.
PERSON: Michel Dumontier
software method
A software module is software composed of a collection of software methods.
PERSON: Melanei Courtot
software module
A software library is software composed of a collection of software modules and/or software methods in a form that can be statically or dynamically linked to some software application.
software library
A software application is software that can be directly executed by some processing unit.
software application
A software script is software whose instructions can be executed using a software interpreter.
software script
Ontology: <http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ro/idrange/> Annotations: 'has ID prefix': "http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/RO_" 'has ID digit count' : 7, rdfs:label "RO id policy" 'has ID policy for': "RO"
Relates an ontology used to record id policy to the number of digits in the URI. The URI is: the 'has ID prefix" annotation property value concatenated with an integer in the id range (left padded with "0"s to make this many digits)
has ID digit count
Datatype: idrange:1 Annotations: 'has ID range allocated to': "Chris Mungall" EquivalentTo: xsd:integer[> 2151 , <= 2300]
Relates a datatype that encodes a range of integers to the name of the person or organization who can use those ids constructed in that range to define new terms
has ID range allocated to
Relating an ontology used to record id policy to the ontology namespace whose policy it manages
Relates an ontology used to record id policy to a prefix concatenated with an integer in the id range (left padded with "0"s to make this many digits) to construct an ID for a term being created.
has ID prefix
elucidation
Person:Barry Smith
Primitive terms in a highest-level ontology such as BFO are terms which are so basic to our understanding of reality that there is no way of defining them in a non-circular fashion. For these, therefore, we can provide only elucidations, supplemented by examples and by axioms
has associated axiom(nl)
An axiom associated with a term expressed using natural language
has associated axiom(fol)
An axiom expressed in first order logic using CLIF syntax
is allocated id range
Add as annotation triples in the granting ontology
Relates an ontology IRI to an (inclusive) range of IRIs in an OBO name space. The range is give as, e.g. "IAO_0020000-IAO_0020999"
retired from use as of
relates a class of CRID to the date after which further instances should not be made, according to the central authority
In OWL 2 add AnnotationPropertyRange xsd:dateTimeStamp
abbreviation textual entity
From Shiba et al. Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2013; 1: 45. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3893467/): BAC: Bacterial artificial chromosome; CR: Calretinin; GFAP: Glial fibrillary acidic protein; MAP: Microtubule-associated protein; MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging; NSC: Neural stem cell; PDA: Patent ductus arteriosus; PMG: Polymicrogyria; PNH: Periventricular nodular heterotopia; VSD: Ventricular septal defect.
A textual entity listing abbreviations and their expansions that are used in a document.
PERSON: Bill Baumgartner
abbreviations section
The section labelled 'abbreviations' in a typical scientific journal article.
A part of a document where abbreviations and their long-forms used within the document are listed.
abbreviations list
abbreviations used
abbreviations
list of abbreviations used
list of abbreviations
author information section
The section labelled 'author information' in a typical scientific journal article, e.g. in Takon. Ann Gen Psychiatry. 2011; 10: 25. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3204268/)
A part of a document about the authors that provides biographical information and may discuss how the authors' professional experiences are relevant to the work described in the document.
author information
authors’ information
author information textual entity
From Takon. Ann Gen Psychiatry. 2011; 10: 25. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3204268/): IT [the author] is the lead paediatrician for ADHD services in East Hertfordshire, UK, where she runs a weekly joint ADHD clinic with the Child and Adolescent psychiatrist and works within an ADHD specialist team. IT also sees children with other neurodisability issues who may have comorbid ADHD, where the presentation may be more complex and challenging to manage. IT has vast experience in managing children with complex ADHD. She has 18 years of experience in paediatrics and also has extensive experience in the use of psychopharmacologic agents in managing children with ADHD.
A textual entity expression information about an author of a document. This information may include biographical information and may discuss how the authors' professional experiences are relevant to the work described in the document.
author summary section
The section labelled 'synopsis' in a typical scientific journal article, e.g. in Pendse et al. BMC Genomics. 2013; 14: 136. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3608171/)
A part of a document, distinct from the abstract, that describes the significance and broader context of the document content. The author summary is often written in a non-technical manner and is aimed at both scientists and non-scientist readers.
author summary
summary
synopsis
Article submission guidelines for PLoS Genetics (http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/s/submission-guidelines)
author summary textual entity
From Pendse et al. BMC Genomics. 2013; 14: 136. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3608171/): The search for genetic risk factors for common human diseases often relies on the use of linkage and association studies to establish correlation between genomic markers and disease risk. These studies require additional functional evaluation of candidate genes, including their possible interaction with diet and environment. The number of candidate genes is typically large and the development of appropriate genetic tools in mammalian systems is slow. By contrast, large-scale genetic screens, using widely available genetic tools, are routinely conducted in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. In this study, we used Drosophila to screen candidate genes identified in human genome-wide scans as associated with risk of metabolic abnormalities such as type 2 diabetes. We show that a number of human candidate genes have fly orthologs that play an important role in Drosophila tolerance to high dietary sucrose. We further explored some of the specific metabolic abnormalities that can result when these genes’ activities are reduced in flies, focusing on a gene we call dHHEX (CG7056), the fly ortholog of human HHEX.
A textual entity, distinct from the abstract, that describes the significance and broader context of the document content. The author summary is often written in a non-technical manner and is aimed at both scientists and non-scientist readers, e.g as described in the article submission guidelines for PLoS Genetics (http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/s/submission-guidelines).
Article submission guidelines for PLoS Genetics (http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/s/submission-guidelines).
availability section
The section labelled 'availability and requirements' in a typical scientific journal article, e.g. Qi et al. BMC Bioinformatics. 2014; 15: 11. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3897912/).
A part of a document about a resource described in the document, e.g. software, that describes where and/or how that resource can be obtained.
availability
availability textual entity
From Qi et al. BMC Bioinformatics. 2014; 15: 11. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3897912/): Project home page:http://krux.googlecode.com
A textual entity expressing the location of a resource, e.g. software, or the manner in which a resource can be obtained.
case report section
The section labelled 'case report' in a typical scientific journal article, e.g. in Taglia et al. Acta Myol. 2012 Dec; 31(3): 201–203. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3631801/)
A part of a document about the medical history of a specific patient as it relates to the topic of the document.
case presentation
case report
case report textual entity
Excerpt from Taglia et al. Acta Myol. 2012 Dec; 31(3): 201–203. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3631801/): The patient is a 50-year-old man. His medical history was not contributory. At the age of 37 years, he complained of persistent fatigue and dyspnoea even for modest efforts and oedema of lower limbs. The patient was examined at the department of internal medicine of the local hospital, and hospitalised with a diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy probably consequence of a myocarditis process. Soon after he was transferred to the cardiologic department of the regional hospital, and pharmacologically treated for heart failure and pulmonary hypertension.
A textual entity that expresses a detailed account of a portion of the medical history for a specific patient.
conclusion section
The section labelled 'conclusion' in a typical scientific journal article.
A part of a document used to summarize the findings discussed in the document. The conclusion section is typically found near the end of a document.
concluding remarks
conclusion
conclusions
findings
conflict of interest section
The section labelled 'conflict of interest statement' in a typical scientific journal article.
A part of a document used to declare any competing interests regarding the authors and/or funding organization for the work described in the document.
competing interests
conflict of interest statement
conflict of interest
declaration of competing interests
disclosure of potential conflicts of interest
SD [an author] is a Merck employee and Merck is the sponsor of this study. [Taken from 'Effects of obstructive sleep apnoea risk on postoperative respiratory complications: protocol for a hospital-based registry study' Shin et al. 2016 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4735131/)]
A textual entity that expresses a situation involving one or more of the authors, or the funding source of a document whereby the authors or funding source stand to potentially gain (typically financially) from the results reported in the document.
conflict of interest textual entity
consent section
The section labelled 'consent' in a typical scientific journal article, e.g. Shiba et al. Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2013; 1: 45. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3893467/)
A part of a document about the consent process that was used to enroll patients in a study.
consent
consent textual entity
From Shiba et al. Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2013; 1: 45. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3893467/): Written informed consent was obtained from the patient’s parents for publication of this Case report and any accompanying images. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the Editor-in chief of this journal.
A textual entity that documents the consenting process used to enroll patients in a study.
ethical approval section
The section labelled 'ethical approval' in a typical scientific journal article.
A part of a document about the governance body responsible for approving the work discussed in a document on an ethical basis.
ethical approval
ethical approval textual entity
From McLean et al. Br J Gen Pract. 2014 Jul; 64(624): e440–e447 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4073730/): The NHS National Research Ethics Service had previously approved the use of these anonymised data for research purposes and this analysis did not require independent review.
A textual entity that documents the ethical approval of some study design.
figures section
The section labelled 'figures' in a typical scientific journal article.
A part of a document that contains one or more figures.
figures
funding source declaration section
The section labelled 'funding' in a typical scientific journal article.
A part of a document used to detail information regarding the source of funding used in support of the generation of the document content.
funding information
funding sources
funding statement
funding
funding/support
source of funding
sources of funding
funding souce declaration textual entity
From Stephan et al. Accid Anal Prev. 2011 May; 43(3): 1062–1067. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3062852/): This study was supported by the International Collaborative Research Grants Scheme with joint grants from the Wellcome Trust UK (GR071587MA) and the Australian NHMRC (268055). The funding sources played no role in study design, data collection, analysis or interpretation, writing the report, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.
A textual entity documenting the source of funding that supported some study.
funding source declaration textual entity
future directions section
The section labelled 'future directions' in a typical scientific journal article.
A part of a document detailing extensions of the described work that may be implemented at some future point in time.
future challenges
future considerations
future developments
future directions
future outlook
future perspectives
future plans
future prospects
future research directions
future research
future studies
future work
future directions textual entity
Excerpt from Wang and Li. Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2016 Jan; 37(1): 25–33. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4722976/): In the future, several questions will need to be resolved regarding the physiological assembly of KCNQ channels and their functional implications in complex neural circuits. First, we still lack sufficiently selective inhibitors and activators among the KCNQ family members.
A textual entity expressing ideas regarding future work relevant to work described in a document that could be done.
genome announcement section
The section labelled 'genome announcement' in a typical scientific journal article, e.g. in Kim et al. J Bacteriol. 2011 Oct; 193(19): 5537. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3187466/)
A document part announcing the publication of a novel draft genome sequence.
genome announcement
genome announcement textual entity
Excerpt from Kim et al. J Bacteriol. 2011 Oct; 193(19): 5537. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3187466/): Here we report the genome sequence of Lactobacillus malefermentans KCTC 3548, which we obtained using a whole-genome shotgun strategy (4) with Roche 454 GS (FLX Titanium) pyrosequencing (257,559 reads totaling ∼89.8 Mb; ∼45-fold coverage of the genome) at the Genome Resource Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB).
A textual entity that describes the generation and public release of a novel, draft genome sequence.
keyword textual entity
From: Fu and Lin. Identification of gene-oriented exon orthology between human and mouse. BMC Genomics. 2012; 13(Suppl 1): S10. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3303729/): Exon orthology; alternative splicing; exon duplication; intron-exon structure.
A textual entity listing keywords indicating the major theme(s) of a document.
keywords section
The section labelled 'keywords' in a typical scientific journal article.
A part of a document where keywords selected by the author to categorize the major theme(s) of a document are listed.
keywords
study limitations section
The section labelled 'limitations' in a typical scientific journal article.
A part of a document about biases or short comings related to the study design and execution.
limitations
study limitations
Author guidelines published by The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1553-2712/homepage/ForAuthors.html)
study limitations textual entity
Excerpt from the Limitations section of Fermann et al 2015, Acad Emerg Med. 2015 Mar; 22(3): 299–307 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4405051/). Owing to the nature of a post hoc study, any significant values must be interpreted with caution. In the current analysis, no multiple testing was conducted and p-values remain unadjusted. Moreover, a selection bias arising from the randomized open-label design of the original EINSTEIN PE study cannot be ruled out.
A textual entity addressing a shortcoming or bias of a study design or execution.
materials section
The section labelled 'materials' in a typical scientific journal article, e.g. Nguyen et al. BMC Bioinformatics. 2010; 11: 279. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2889936/)
A part of a document about the materials required to reproduce the content of the document.
materials
notes section
The section labelled 'notes' in a typical scientific journal article, e.g. McLean et al. Br J Gen Pract. 2014 Jul; 64(624): e440–e447 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4073730/):
A part of a document containing typically short notes about the document itself and/or the authors. Often the notes section contains subsections related to funding, competing interests, ethical approval, etc.
footnotes
notes
patients section
The section labelled 'patients' in a typical scientific journal article, e.g. in Citak et al. Acta Orthop. 2013 Jun; 84(3): 326–327. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3715825/)
A part of a document about the patients that participated in a study.
patients textual entity
Excerpt from Citak et al. Acta Orthop. 2013 Jun; 84(3): 326–327. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3715825/): Between January 1996 and February 2012, we treated 4 patients with interprosthetic femoral fractures (3 of them women) (Figure 2) using a custom-made interposition device (Waldemar Link GmbH, Hamburg, Germany) (Figure 1). Mean age was 74 (59–86) years. The fractures occurred mean 18 (13–28) years after primary THA and mean 14 (10–17) years after primary TKA. At the latest follow-up, after mean 8 (0.5–16) years, revision surgery with a total femur replacement was required in 1 case due to aseptic loosening. No other complications requiring revision surgery occurred.
A textual entity expressing information regarding the patients used in a study.
pre-publication history section
The section labelled 'pre-publication history' in a typical scientific journal article, e.g. in Xiao et al. BMC Anesthesiol. 2013; 13: 33. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4016475/)
A part of the document about the publication history of a document. This section typically details dates of document submission to a journal and dates of any re-submissions as well as reviewer comments and responses to reviewers by the authors.
notice of republication
pre-publication history
pre-publication history textual entity
From Xiao et al. BMC Anesthesiol. 2013; 13: 33. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4016475/): The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2253/13/33/prepub
A textual entity that expresses the pre-publication history (submission dates, reviewer comments, etc) for a document, often including a hyperlink to a web page detailing the information.
related work section
The section labelled 'related work' in a typical scientific journal article, e.g. Žitnik and Zupan. Bioinformatics. 2015 Jun 15; 31(12): i230–i239. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4542780/)
A part of a document about work in other publications that is relevant to the content of the document.
related literature
related work
related work textual entity
Excerpt from Žitnik and Zupan. Bioinformatics. 2015 Jun 15; 31(12): i230–i239. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4542780/): Our work presented here is similar in spirit to our recently developed methodology for data fusion via collective matrix factorization (Žitnik and Zupan, 2015).
A textual entity that discusses work from other publications and expresses their relevancy to the content of a document.
requirements section
A part of a document about a resource described in the document, e.g. software, that describes the requirements necessary to use the resource, e.g. operating systems, hardware, etc. in the case of a software resource.
requirements
requirements textual entity
From Qi et al. BMC Bioinformatics. 2014; 15: 11. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3897912/): • Operating systems: Platform independent • Programming language: Matlab, R, Python • Other requirements: None • License: GNU GPL v3 • Any restrictions to use by non-academics: None
A textual entity that expresses the requirements necessary to use a resource, e.g. software.
statistical analysis textual entity
From Mondo et al. Cardiovasc J Afr. 2013 Mar; 24(2): 28–33. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3734881/): Data were captured into EPI-DATA (version 3.1), cleaned and then exported to Stata version 10 for analysis. Continuous variables were summarised as mean (± standard deviation) and median (inter-quartile range), and presented in the tables. Categorical data were analysed using frequency and percentages, and results are presented in frequency tables and bar charts. Test of significance (p-value) was determined using the chi-square test. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.
A textual entity documenting statistical analysis tools and techniques employed.
statistical analysis section
The section labelled 'statistical analysis' in a typical scientific journal article, e.g. Mondo et al. Cardiovasc J Afr. 2013 Mar; 24(2): 28–33. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3734881/)
A part of the document used to describe the statistical methodologies employed in the work presented in the document.
statistical analysis
tables section
The section labelled 'tables' in a typical scientific journal article.
A part of a document that contains one or more tables.
tables
database extract, transform, and load process
A planned process which takes as input a database and fills another database by extracting concretizations of information entities from the first, transforming them, and loading the transformed concretizations into the second.
Alan Ruttenberg 12/21/16: Maybe this definition instead: A planned process which takes as input a database and copies concretizations from the first, optionally transforms then copies the result to the second
Alan Ruttenberg 12/21/16: We don't define database in IAO, currently, as the bare word is ambiguous. Reasonable interpretations of the word might be the material entity, an information structure, an information content entity. However this definition commits, at least, to there being some material thing which bear concretizations of information entities and that there are new concretizations created during the process. We consider the ETL process in terms of information entities rather than the concretizations. No committment is made as to whether the specified output.
ETL
has axiom id
A URI that is intended to be unique label for an axiom used for tracking change to the ontology. For an axiom expressed in different languages, each expression is given the same URI
has axiom label
term replaced by
Use on obsolete terms, relating the term to another term that can be used as a substitute
planned process
A processual entity that realizes a plan which is the concretization of a plan specification.
investigation
a planned process that consists of parts: planning, study design execution, documentation and which produce conclusion(s).
has_specified_input
see is_input_of example_of_usage
A relation between a planned process and a continuant participating in that process that is not created during the process. The presence of the continuant during the process is explicitly specified in the plan specification which the process realizes the concretization of.
8/17/09: specified inputs of one process are not necessarily specified inputs of a larger process that it is part of. This is in contrast to how 'has participant' works.
is_specified_input_of
has_specified_output
A relation between a planned process and a continuant participating in that process. The presence of the continuant at the end of the process is explicitly specified in the objective specification which the process realizes the concretization of.
is_specified_output_of
a planned process that carries out a study design
study design
A plan specification comprised of protocols (which may specify how and what kinds of data will be gathered) that are executed as part of an investigation and is realized during a study design execution.
A 1-D extent quality which is equal to the distance between two points.
A physical quality that inheres in a bearer by virtue of the proportion of the bearer's amount of matter.
inheres in
this fragility inheres in this vase
this red color inheres in this apple
a relation between a specifically dependent continuant (the dependent) and an independent continuant (the bearer), in which the dependent specifically depends on the bearer for its existence
A dependent inheres in its bearer at all times for which the dependent exists.
inheres_in
bearer of
this apple is bearer of this red color
this vase is bearer of this fragility
a relation between an independent continuant (the bearer) and a specifically dependent continuant (the dependent), in which the dependent specifically depends on the bearer for its existence
A bearer can have many dependents, and its dependents can exist for different periods of time, but none of its dependents can exist when the bearer does not exist.
bearer_of
is bearer of
participates in
this blood clot participates in this blood coagulation
this input material (or this output material) participates in this process
this investigator participates in this investigation
a relation between a continuant and a process, in which the continuant is somehow involved in the process
participates_in
has participant
this blood coagulation has participant this blood clot
this investigation has participant this investigator
this process has participant this input material (or this output material)
a relation between a process and a continuant, in which the continuant is somehow involved in the process
Has_participant is a primitive instance-level relation between a process, a continuant, and a time at which the continuant participates in some way in the process. The relation obtains, for example, when this particular process of oxygen exchange across this particular alveolar membrane has_participant this particular sample of hemoglobin at this particular time.
has_participant
A journal article is an information artifact that inheres in some number of printed journals. For each copy of the printed journal there is some quality that carries the journal article, such as a pattern of ink. The journal article (a generically dependent continuant) is concretized as the quality (a specifically dependent continuant), and both depend on that copy of the printed journal (an independent continuant).
An investigator reads a protocol and forms a plan to carry out an assay. The plan is a realizable entity (a specifically dependent continuant) that concretizes the protocol (a generically dependent continuant), and both depend on the investigator (an independent continuant). The plan is then realized by the assay (a process).
A relationship between a generically dependent continuant and a specifically dependent continuant, in which the generically dependent continuant depends on some independent continuant in virtue of the fact that the specifically dependent continuant also depends on that same independent continuant. A generically dependent continuant may be concretized as multiple specifically dependent continuants.
is concretized as
A journal article is an information artifact that inheres in some number of printed journals. For each copy of the printed journal there is some quality that carries the journal article, such as a pattern of ink. The quality (a specifically dependent continuant) concretizes the journal article (a generically dependent continuant), and both depend on that copy of the printed journal (an independent continuant).
A relationship between a specifically dependent continuant and a generically dependent continuant, in which the generically dependent continuant depends on some independent continuant in virtue of the fact that the specifically dependent continuant also depends on that same independent continuant. Multiple specifically dependent continuants can concretize the same generically dependent continuant.
concretizes
this catalysis function is a function of this enzyme
a relation between a function and an independent continuant (the bearer), in which the function specifically depends on the bearer for its existence
A function inheres in its bearer at all times for which the function exists, however the function need not be realized at all the times that the function exists.
function_of
is function of
function of
this red color is a quality of this apple
a relation between a quality and an independent continuant (the bearer), in which the quality specifically depends on the bearer for its existence
A quality inheres in its bearer at all times for which the quality exists.
is quality of
quality_of
quality of
this investigator role is a role of this person
a relation between a role and an independent continuant (the bearer), in which the role specifically depends on the bearer for its existence
A role inheres in its bearer at all times for which the role exists, however the role need not be realized at all the times that the role exists.
is role of
role_of
role of
this enzyme has function this catalysis function (more colloquially: this enzyme has this catalysis function)
a relation between an independent continuant (the bearer) and a function, in which the function specifically depends on the bearer for its existence
A bearer can have many functions, and its functions can exist for different periods of time, but none of its functions can exist when the bearer does not exist. A function need not be realized at all the times that the function exists.
has_function
has function
this apple has quality this red color
a relation between an independent continuant (the bearer) and a quality, in which the quality specifically depends on the bearer for its existence
A bearer can have many qualities, and its qualities can exist for different periods of time, but none of its qualities can exist when the bearer does not exist.
has_quality
has quality
this person has role this investigator role (more colloquially: this person has this role of investigator)
a relation between an independent continuant (the bearer) and a role, in which the role specifically depends on the bearer for its existence
A bearer can have many roles, and its roles can exist for different periods of time, but none of its roles can exist when the bearer does not exist. A role need not be realized at all the times that the role exists.
has_role
has role
a relation between an independent continuant (the bearer) and a disposition, in which the disposition specifically depends on the bearer for its existence
has disposition
disposition of
this cell derives from this parent cell (cell division)
this nucleus derives from this parent nucleus (nuclear division)
a relation between two distinct material entities, the new entity and the old entity, in which the new entity begins to exist when the old entity ceases to exist, and the new entity inherits the significant portion of the matter of the old entity
This is a very general relation. More specific relations are preferred when applicable, such as 'directly develops from'.
derives_from
derives from
this parent cell derives into this cell (cell division)
this parent nucleus derives into this nucleus (nuclear division)
a relation between two distinct material entities, the old entity and the new entity, in which the new entity begins to exist when the old entity ceases to exist, and the new entity inherits the significant portion of the matter of the old entity
This is a very general relation. More specific relations are preferred when applicable, such as 'directly develops into'. To avoid making statements about a future that may not come to pass, it is often better to use the backward-looking 'derives from' rather than the forward-looking 'derives into'.
derives_into
derives into
is location of
my head is the location of my brain
this cage is the location of this rat
a relation between two independent continuants, the location and the target, in which the target is entirely within the location
Most location relations will only hold at certain times, but this is difficult to specify in OWL. See https://code.google.com/p/obo-relations/wiki/ROAndTime
location_of
location of
located in
my brain is located in my head
this rat is located in this cage
a relation between two independent continuants, the target and the location, in which the target is entirely within the location
Location as a relation between instances: The primitive instance-level relation c located_in r at t reflects the fact that each continuant is at any given time associated with exactly one spatial region, namely its exact location. Following we can use this relation to define a further instance-level location relation - not between a continuant and the region which it exactly occupies, but rather between one continuant and another. c is located in c1, in this sense, whenever the spatial region occupied by c is part_of the spatial region occupied by c1. Note that this relation comprehends both the relation of exact location between one continuant and another which obtains when r and r1 are identical (for example, when a portion of fluid exactly fills a cavity), as well as those sorts of inexact location relations which obtain, for example, between brain and head or between ovum and uterus
located_in
temporal interpretation
## Elucidation This is used when the statement/axiom is assumed to hold true 'eternally' ## How to interpret (informal) First the "atemporal" FOL is derived from the OWL using the standard interpretation. This axiom is temporalized by embedding the axiom within a for-all-times quantified sentence. The t argument is added to all instantiation predicates and predicates that use this relation. ## Example Class: nucleus SubClassOf: part_of some cell forall t : forall n : instance_of(n,Nucleus,t) implies exists c : instance_of(c,Cell,t) part_of(n,c,t) ## Notes This interpretation is *not* the same as an at-all-times relation
axiom holds for all times
## Elucidation This is used when the first-order logic form of the relation is binary, and takes no temporal argument. ## Example: Class: limb SubClassOf: develops_from some lateral-plate-mesoderm forall t, t2: forall x : instance_of(x,Limb,t) implies exists y : instance_of(y,LPM,t2) develops_from(x,y)
relation has no temporal argument
the surface of my skin is a 2D boundary of my body
a relation between a 2D immaterial entity (the boundary) and a material entity, in which the boundary delimits the material entity
A 2D boundary may have holes and gaps, but it must be a single connected entity, not an aggregate of several disconnected parts.
Although the boundary is two-dimensional, it exists in three-dimensional space and thus has a 3D shape.
2D_boundary_of
boundary of
is 2D boundary of
is boundary of
2D boundary of
my body has 2D boundary the surface of my skin
a relation between a material entity and a 2D immaterial entity (the boundary), in which the boundary delimits the material entity
has boundary
has_2D_boundary
has 2D boundary
An organism that is a member of a population of organisms
is member of is a mereological relation between a item and a collection.
member of
has member is a mereological relation between a collection and an item.
has member
A unit which is a standard measure of the distance between two points.
A unit which is a standard measure of the amount of matter/energy of a physical object.
A unit which is a standard measure of the dimension in which events occur in sequence.
Adam Goldstein
Albert Goldfain
Barry Smith
Carlo Torniai
Chris Stoeckert
Christian A. Boelling
Darren Natale
David Osumi-Sutherland
Gwen Frishkoff
Holger Stenzhorn
James A. Overton
James Malone
Jennifer Fostel
Jie Zheng
Jonathan Rees
Larisa Soldatova
Mathias Brochhausen
Matt Brush
Melanie Courtot
Michel Dumontier
Paolo Ciccarese
Pat Hayes
Randy Dipert
Ron Rudnicki
Satya Sahoo
Sivaram Arabandi
Werner Ceusters
William Duncan
William Hogan
Yongqun (Oliver) He
An information artifact is, loosely, a dependent continuant or its bearer that is created as the result of one or more intentional processes. Examples: uniprot, the english language, the contents of this document or a printout of it, the temperature measurements from a weather balloon. For more information, see the project home page at https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/IAO
IDs allocated to related efforts: PNO: IAO_0020000-IAO_0020999, D_ACTS: IAO_0021000-IAO_0021999
IDs allocated to subdomains of IAO. pno.owl: IAO_0020000-IAO_0020999, d-acts.owl: IAO_0021000-IAO_0021999
The Information Artifact Ontology (IAO) is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY) version 4.0. You are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) for any purpose, even commercially. for any purpose, even commercially. The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms. You must give appropriate credit (by using the original ontology IRI for the whole ontology and original term IRIs for individual terms), provide a link to the license, and indicate if any changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. For more information see http://www.obofoundry.org/docs/Citation.html
This version of the ontology is the merge of all its imports and has added axioms inferred by an OWL reasoner
Examples of a Contributor include a person, an organisation, or a service. Typically, the name of a Contributor should be used to indicate the entity.
An entity responsible for making contributions to the content of the resource.
Contributor
Coverage will typically include spatial location (a place name or geographic coordinates), temporal period (a period label, date, or date range) or jurisdiction (such as a named administrative entity). Recommended best practice is to select a value from a controlled vocabulary (for example, the Thesaurus of Geographic Names [TGN]) and that, where appropriate, named places or time periods be used in preference to numeric identifiers such as sets of coordinates or date ranges.
The extent or scope of the content of the resource.
Coverage
Examples of a Creator include a person, an organisation, or a service. Typically, the name of a Creator should be used to indicate the entity.
An entity primarily responsible for making the content of the resource.
Creator
Typically, Date will be associated with the creation or availability of the resource. Recommended best practice for encoding the date value is defined in a profile of ISO 8601 [W3CDTF] and follows the YYYY-MM-DD format.
A date associated with an event in the life cycle of the resource.
Date
Description may include but is not limited to: an abstract, table of contents, reference to a graphical representation of content or a free-text account of the content.
An account of the content of the resource.
Description
Typically, Format may include the media-type or dimensions of the resource. Format may be used to determine the software, hardware or other equipment needed to display or operate the resource. Examples of dimensions include size and duration. Recommended best practice is to select a value from a controlled vocabulary (for example, the list of Internet Media Types [MIME] defining computer media formats).
The physical or digital manifestation of the resource.
Format
Recommended best practice is to identify the resource by means of a string or number conforming to a formal identification system. Example formal identification systems include the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) (including the Uniform Resource Locator (URL)), the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) and the International Standard Book Number (ISBN).
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context.
Resource Identifier
Recommended best practice is to use RFC 3066 [RFC3066], which, in conjunction with ISO 639 [ISO639], defines two- and three-letter primary language tags with optional subtags. Examples include "en" or "eng" for English, "akk" for Akkadian, and "en-GB" for English used in the United Kingdom.
A language of the intellectual content of the resource.
Language
Examples of a Publisher include a person, an organisation, or a service. Typically, the name of a Publisher should be used to indicate the entity.
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Publisher
Recommended best practice is to reference the resource by means of a string or number conforming to a formal identification system.
A reference to a related resource.
Relation
Typically, a Rights element will contain a rights management statement for the resource, or reference a service providing such information. Rights information often encompasses Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Copyright, and various Property Rights. If the Rights element is absent, no assumptions can be made about the status of these and other rights with respect to the resource.
Information about rights held in and over the resource.
Rights Management
The present resource may be derived from the Source resource in whole or in part. Recommended best practice is to reference the resource by means of a string or number conforming to a formal identification system.
A reference to a resource from which the present resource is derived.
Source
Typically, a Subject will be expressed as keywords, key phrases or classification codes that describe a topic of the resource. Recommended best practice is to select a value from a controlled vocabulary or formal classification scheme.
The topic of the content of the resource.
Subject and Keywords
A name by which the resource is formally known.
A name given to the resource.
Title
Type includes terms describing general categories, functions, genres, or aggregation levels for content. Recommended best practice is to select a value from a controlled vocabulary (for example, the DCMI Type Vocabulary [DCMITYPE]). To describe the physical or digital manifestation of the resource, use the Format element.
The nature or genre of the content of the resource.
Resource Type
The QUDT Ontologies are issued under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Attribution should be made to NASA Ames Research Center and TopQuadrant, Inc.
Quantities, Units, Dimensions and Types (QUDT) Ontology Version 1.1
The QUDT, or 'Quantity, Unit, Dimension and Type' collection of ontologies defines the base classes properties, and restrictions used for modeling physical quantities, units of measure, and their dimensions in various measurement systems. The goal of the QUDT ontology is to provide a unified model of, measurable quantities, units for measuring different kinds of quantities, the numerical values of quantities in different units of measure and the data structures and data types used to store and manipulate these objects in software. This OWL schema is a foundation for a basic treatment of units.
Basic treatment of quantities and units. No dimensional treatment in this graph.
Provides a schema for describing Units of Measure
Quantities, Units, Dimensions and Types (QUDT) - Level 1
The sole purpose of this ontology is to import parts of the full QUDT ontology set. The imported parts have been modified to create a 'lite' version.
QUDT Units Vocabulary (without dimensions) Version 1.1
The QUDT Units Vocabulary is an RDF/OWL specifications of common units of measure in the science and engineering domains. All SI Units are included. Links, where possible, have been made to dbpedia using 'skos:closeMatch' and 'skos:exactMatch'.
To provide a vocabulary of commonly used units. This comprises the SI and many non-SI Units.
All units relating to specificaiton of angles.
The units of angular mass have dimensions of mass * area. They are used to measure the moment of inertia.
When the temperature of a substance changes, the energy that is stored in the intermolecular bonds between atoms changes. When the stored energy increases, so does the length of the molecular bonds. As a result, solids typically expand in response to heating and contract on cooling; this dimensional response to temperature change is expressed by its coefficient of thermal expansion. Different coefficients of thermal expansion can be defined for a substance depending on whether the expansion is measured by: * linear thermal expansion * area thermal expansion * volumetric thermal expansion These characteristics are closely related. The volumetric thermal expansion coefficient can be defined for both liquids and solids. The linear thermal expansion can only be defined for solids, and is common in engineering applications. Some substances expand when cooled, such as freezing water, so they have negative thermal expansion coefficients. For exactly isotropic materials, the area thermal expansion coefficient is very closely approximated as twice the linear coefficient.
The electric charge of an ion, equal to the number of electrons the atom has gained or lost in its ionization multiplied by the charge on one electron. This class contains the following instance(s): "atomic number".
A Base Unit is a unit adopted by convention for a base quantity.
Capacitance is a measure of the amount of electric charge stored (or separated) for a given electric potential. This class contains the following instance(s): "Abfarad", "Farad", "MicroFarad", "NanoFarad", "PicoFarad", "Statfarad".
Electrical conductance is the inverse of electrical resistance. It measures the ease with which electricity flows along a path through an electrical element. This class contains the following instance(s): "Abmho", "Mho", "Siemens", "Statmho".
All units about counts. Examples are Atomic Number, Number, Number per Year, Percent and Sample per Second.
The canonicall example of extrinsic curvature is that of a circle, which has curvature equal to the inverse of its radius everywhere. Smaller circles bend more sharply, and hence have higher curvature. The curvature of a smooth curve is defined as the curvature of its osculating circle at each point. The osculating circle of a sufficiently smooth plane curve at a given point on the curve is the circle whose center lies on the inner normal line and whose curvature is the same as that of the given curve at that point. This circle is tangent to the curve at the given point. That is, given a point P on a smooth curve C, the curvature of C at P is defined to be 1/R where R is the radius of the osculating circle of C at P. The magnitude of curvature at points on physical curves can be measured in diopters (also spelled dioptre) — this is the convention in optics. [Wikipedia]
A DerivedUnit is a type specification for units that are derived from other units.
A Dimensionless Unit is a quantity for which all the exponents of the factors corresponding to the base quantities in its quantity dimension are zero.
The linear, surface, or volume charge density is the amount of electric charge in a line, surface, or volume. It is measured in coulombs per metre (C/m), square metre (C/m^2), or cubic metre (C/m^3), respectively. Since there are positive as well as negative charges, the charge density can take on negative values. [Wikipedia]
The linear charge density is the amount of electric charge in a line. It is measured in coulombs per metre (C/m). Since there are positive as well as negative charges, the charge density can take on negative values. [Wikipedia]
Electric Charge Per Amount Of Substance Unit
Electric charge is a fundamental conserved property of some subatomic particles, which determines their electromagnetic interaction. Electrically charged matter is influenced by, and produces, electromagnetic fields. The interaction between a moving charge and an electromagnetic field is the source of the electromagnetic force, which is one of the four fundamental forces.
The volume charge density is the amount of electric charge in a volume. It is measured in coulombs per cubic metre (C/m^3). Since there are positive as well as negative charges, the charge density can take on negative values. [Wikipedia]
Electric current density is a measure of the density of flow of a conserved charge. Usually the charge is the electric charge, in which case the associated current density is the electric current per unit area of cross section, but the term current density can also be applied to other conserved quantities. It is defined as a vector whose magnitude is the current per cross-sectional area. [Wikipedia] In SI units, the electric current density is measured in amperes per square metre. This class contains the following instance(s): "Ampere per square meter".
Electric current is the flow (movement) of electric charge. The SI unit of electric current is the ampere, and electric current is measured using an ammeter. This class contains the following instance(s): "Abampere", "Ampere", "Biot", "Statampere".
The electric dipole moment (or electric dipole for short) is a measure of the polarity of a system of electric charges. [Wikipedia] This class has the following instance(s): "Coulomb meter", "Debye".
The strength of the electric field at a given point is defined as the force that would be exerted on a positive test charge of +1 coulomb placed at that point; the direction of the field is given by the direction of that force. Electric fields contain electrical energy with energy density proportional to the square of the field intensity. The electric field is to charge as gravitational acceleration is to mass and force density is to volume.
The class of units used to measure the properties of electricity and magnetism.
Energy and work per mass amount of substance
Units that measure energy density, i.e. energy per unit volume.
Units that quantify energy per unit area.
The ratio of energy to electric charge arises repeatedly in electrodynamics. It is the dimensional equivalent to the electrostatic potential and electromotive force. In both cases, the SI unit is the volt, or newton meters per coulomb.
This class contains units that measure financial quantities, such as currency, transactions, rates of return, etc.
An electric current flowing around a circuit produces a magnetic field and hence a magnetic flux through the circuit. The ratio of the magnetic flux to the current is called the inductance, or more accurately self-inductance of the circuit. [Wikipedia] This class contains the following instance(s): "Abhenry", "Henry", "Micro Henry", "Milli Henry", "Stathenry".
When the temperature of a substance changes, the energy that is stored in the intermolecular bonds between atoms changes. When the stored energy increases, so does the length of the molecular bonds. As a result, solids typically expand in response to heating and contract on cooling; this dimensional response to temperature change is expressed by its coefficient of thermal expansion. Different coefficients of thermal expansion can be defined for a substance depending on whether the expansion is measured by: * linear thermal expansion * area thermal expansion * volumetric thermal expansion These characteristics are closely related. The volumetric thermal expansion coefficient can be defined for both liquids and solids. The linear thermal expansion can only be defined for solids, and is common in engineering applications. Some substances expand when cooled, such as freezing water, so they have negative thermal expansion coefficients. [Wikipedia]
Linear Velocity units measure change of length per unit time. Examples include meters per second, miles per hour, knots, etc.
Logarithmic units are abstract mathematical units that can be used to express any quantities (physical or mathematical) that are defined on a logarithmic scale, that is, as being proportional to the value of a logarithm function. Examples of logarithmic units include common units of information and entropy, such as the bit, and the byte, as well as units of relative signal strength magnitude such as the decibel.
A magnetic field is a vector field that permeates space and which can exert a magnetic force on moving electric charges and on magnetic dipoles (such as permanent magnets). [Wikipedia] The strength of a magnetic field at a point in space is the magnitude of the field vector at that point. This class contains the following instance(s): "Ampere per meter", "Ampere turn per inch", "Ampere turn per meter", "Oersted".
Magnetic flux is a measure of quantity of magnetism, taking into account the strength and the extent of a magnetic field. The SI unit of magnetic flux is the weber (in derived units: volt-seconds), and the unit of magnetic field is the weber per square meter, or tesla. [Wikipedia] This class contains the following instance(s): "Maxwell", "Unit pole", "Weber".
Magnetomotive force is any physical cause that produces magnetic flux. In other words, it is a field of magnetism (measured in tesla) that has area (measured in square meters), so that (Tesla)(Area)= Flux. It is analogous to electromotive force or voltage in electricity. MMF usually describes electric wire coils in a way so scientists can measure or predict the actual force a wire coil can generate. [Wikipedia] This class contains the following instance(s): "Ampere turn", "Gilbert", "Oersted centimeter", "Unit pole".
Mass Amount Of Substance Temperature Unit
A Non-SI unit. Typically an imperial measure.
A type specification for all units that are not used in the SI standard.
Photometry is the science of the measurement of light, in terms of its perceived brightness to the human eye. It is distinct from radiometry, which is the science of measurement of radiant energy (including light) in terms of absolute power.
A physical constant is a physical quantity that is generally believed to be both universal in nature and constant in time. It can be contrasted with a mathematical constant, which is a fixed numerical value but does not directly involve any physical measurement. There are many physical constants in science, some of the most widely recognized being the speed of light in vacuum c, Newton's gravitational constant G, Planck's constant h, the electric permittivity of free space ε0, and the elementary charge e. Physical constants can take many dimensional forms, or may be dimensionless depending on the system of quantities and units used.
The ratio of power to electric charge is proportional to the rate of change of electric potential.
Two quantities proportional if they vary in such a way that one of the quantities is a constant multiple of the other. The multiple is the constant of proportionality between the two quantities. Constants of proportionality may be dimensioned in some quantity systems and dimensionless in others. For example, in the SI system, the permittivity of a vacuum has the dimensions L^-3 M^-1 T^4 I^2 and is measured in Farads per Meter; in the CGS-EMU system it has dimensions L^-2T^2 and is measured in Abfarads per Centimeter; in the CGS-ESU system it is dimensionless. Constants of proportionality are important in the definition of systems of natural units, where units are chosen in order to make certain constants of proportionality dimensionless and equal to 1.
A quantity is the measurement of an observable property of a particular object, event, or physical system. A quantity is always associated with the context of measurement (i.e. the thing measured, the measured value, the accuracy of measurement, etc.) whereas the underlying quantity kind is independent of any particular measurement. Thus, length is a quantity kind while the height of a rocket is a specific quantity of length; its magnitude that may be expressed in meters, feet, inches, etc. Examples of physical quantities include physical constants, such as the speed of light in a vacuum, Planck's constant, the electric permittivity of free space, and the fine structure constant. Or, as stated at Wikipedia, in the language of measurement, quantities are quantifiable aspects of the world, such as time, distance, velocity, mass, momentum, energy, and weight, and units are used to describe their measure. Many of these quantities are related to each other by various physical laws, and as a result the units of some of the quantities can be expressed as products (or ratios) of powers of other units (e.g., momentum is mass times velocity and velocity is measured in distance divided by time). These relationships are discussed in dimensional analysis. Those that cannot be so expressed can be regarded as "fundamental" in this sense.
a reference to the dimension that quantifies the property
A Quantity Kind is an aspect common to mutually comparable quantities.
A quantity type is an enumeration of units that are measures of the same quantity kind.
A quantity value expresses the numerical value of a quantity with respect to a chosen unit of measure. For example, the value of Planck's constant in Joule-Seconds (J s) is approximately 6.62606896E-34, whereas the value in Erg-Seconds (erg s) is approximately 6.62606896E-27.
Clare Paul: The restriction was changed from allValuesFrom qudt:numericValue onProperty qudt:numericValue TO allValuesFrom qudt:numericValue onProperty xsd:double
Photometry is the field that studies the measurement of electromagnetic radiation, including visible light. Note that light is also measured using the techniques of photometry, which deal with brightness as perceived by the human eye, rather than absolute power.
Electrical resistance is a ratio of the degree to which an object opposes an electric current through it, measured in ohms. Its reciprocal quantity is electrical conductance measured in siemens. This class contains the following instance(s): "Abohm", "Ohm", "Statohm".
A Resource Unit is a unit for measuring the amount of various types of resources.
All SI units are derived from the SI Base units
The solid angle subtended by a surface S is defined as the surface area of a unit sphere covered by the surface S's projection onto the sphere. A solid angle is related to the surface of a sphere in the same way an ordinary angle is related to the circumference of a circle. Since the total surface area of the unit sphere is 4*pi, the measure of solid angle will always be between 0 and 4*pi.
Units which quantify specific energy, i.e. energy per unit mass.
This class contains units of measure for specific heat capacity at a constant pressure.
This class contains units of measure for specific heat capacity at a constant volume.
In physics, natural units are physical units of measurement based only on universal physical constants. For example the elementary charge e is a natural unit of electric charge, or the speed of light c is a natural unit of speed. A purely natural system of units is defined in such a way that some set of selected universal physical constants are normalized to unity; that is, their numerical values in terms of these units become exactly 1. Examples are Planck Units and Atomic Units. Atomic units (au or a.u.) form a system of natural units which is especially convenient for atomic physics calculations. There are two different kinds of atomic units, which one might name Hartree atomic units[1] and Rydberg atomic units, which differ in the choice of the unit of mass and charge. Planck units are unique among systems of natural units, because they are not defined in terms of properties of any prototype, physical object, or even elementary particle. [Wikipeda]
A system of quantity kinds is a set of one or more quantity kinds together with a set of zero or more algebraic equations that define relationships between quantity kinds in the set. In the physical sciences, the equations relating quantity kinds are typically physical laws and definitional relations, and constants of proportionality. Examples include Newton’s First Law of Motion, Coulomb’s Law, and the definition of velocity as the instantaneous change in position. In almost all cases, the system identifies a subset of base quantity kinds. The base set is chosen so that all other quantity kinds of interest can be derived from the base quantity kinds and the algebraic equations.
A system of units is a set of units which are chosen as the reference scales for some set of quantity kinds together with the definitions of each unit. Units may be defined by experimental observation or by proportion to another unit not included in the system. If the unit system is explicitly associated with a quantity kind system, then the unit system must define at least one unit for each quantity kind.
Thermodynamics units are units that provide reference scales for quantifying the conversion of energy into work, as well as heat and its relation to macroscopic variables such as temperature and pressure.
Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by individual particles (suspended solids) that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air.
A unit of measure, or unit, is a particular quantity value that has been chosen as a scale for measuring other quantities the same kind (more generally of equivalent dimension). For example, the meter is a quantity of length that has been rigorously defined and standardized by the BIPM (International Board of Weights and Measures). Any measurement of the length can be expressed as a number multiplied by the unit meter. More formally, the value of a physical quantity Q with respect to a unit (U) is expressed as the scalar multiple of a real number (n) and U, as Q = nU.
A type specification for all units that are used in the SI standard.
A "Space And Time" Unit with the following instance(s): "Cubic foot per minute", "Cubic foot per second", "Cubic inch per minute", "Cubic meter per second", "Cubic yard per minute", "Gallon per day", "Gallon per minute".
When the temperature of a substance changes, the energy that is stored in the intermolecular bonds between atoms changes. When the stored energy increases, so does the length of the molecular bonds. As a result, solids typically expand in response to heating and contract on cooling; this dimensional response to temperature change is expressed by its coefficient of thermal expansion. Different coefficients of thermal expansion can be defined for a substance depending on whether the expansion is measured by: * linear thermal expansion * area thermal expansion * volumetric thermal expansion These characteristics are closely related. The volumetric thermal expansion coefficient can be defined for both liquids and solids. The linear thermal expansion can only be defined for solids, and is common in engineering applications. Some substances expand when cooled, such as freezing water, so they have negative thermal expansion coefficients. For exactly isotropic materials, the volumetric thermal expansion coefficient is very closely approximated as three times the linear coefficient. [Wikipedia]
An abbreviation for a unit is a short (usually 5 characters or less) string that is used in place of the full name for the unit in contexts where space is limited, or where using the abbreviation will enhance readability.
This property relates a unit of measure with a unit system that does not define the unit, but allows its use within the system. An allowed unit must be convertible to some dimensionally eqiuvalent unit that is defined by the system.
This property associates a system of quantities with an enumeration that enumerates the base dimensions of the system in canonical order.
This property relates a unit of measure to the system of units in which it is defined as a base unit for the system. The base units of a system are used to define the derived units of the system by expressing the derived units as products of the base units raised to a rational power.
A unit code is a numeric string that uniquely identifies a unit
This property relates a unit of measure to the unit system in which the unit is derived from the system's base units with a proportionality constant of one.
A coherent unit of measurement for a unit system is a defined unit that may be expressed as a product of powers of the system's base units with the proportionality factor of one.
A system of units is coherent with respect to a system of quantities and equations if the system of units is chosen in such a way that the equations between numerical values have exactly the same form (including the numerical factors) as the corresponding equations between the quantities. In such a coherent system, no numerical factor other than the number 1 ever occurs in the expressions for the derived units in terms of the base units.
The currency exponent indicates the number of decimal places between a major currency unit and its minor currency unit. For example, the US dollar is the major currency unit of the United States, and the US cent is the minor currency unit. Since one cent is 1/100 of a dollar, the US dollar has a currency exponent of 2. However, the Japanese Yen has no minor currency units, so the yen has a currency exponent of 0.
This property relates a unit of measure with the unit system that defines the unit.
This property relates a unit of measure to the system of units in which it is defined as a derived unit. That is, the derived unit is defined as a product of the base units for the system raised to some rational power.
This property relates a quantity kind to its generalization. A quantity kind, PARENT, is a generalization of the quantity kind CHILD only if 1. PARENT and CHILD have the same dimensions in every system of quantities; 2. Every unit that is a measure of quantities of kind CHILD is also a valid measure of quantities of kind PARENT.
A negative change limit between consecutive sample values for a parameter. The Negative Delta may be the encoded value or engineering units value depending on whether or not a Calibrator is defined.
A positive change limit between consecutive sample values for a parameter. The Positive Delta may be the encoded value or engineering units value depending on whether or not a Calibrator is defined.
a property to relate an observable thing with a quantity (qud:Quantity)
The relative standard uncertainty of a measurement is the (absolute) standard uncertainty divided by the magnitude of the exact value.
This property relates a quantity kind to its specialization(s). For example, linear velocity and angular velocity are both specializations of velocity.
The standard uncertainty of a quantity is the estimated standard deviation of the mean taken from a series of measurements.
The symbol for a unit is a glyph that is used to represent the unit in a compact form. For example, the symbol for the US Dollar is $. This contrasts with unit:abbreviation, which gives a short alphanumeric abbreviation for the unit. (I.e. USD for US Dollar).
This property relates a unit system with a unit of measure that is not defined by or part of the system, but is allowed for use within the system. An allowed unit must be convertible to some dimensionally eqiuvalent unit that is defined by the system.
This property relates a system of units to a base unit defined within the system. The base units of a system are used to define the derived units of the system by expressing the derived units as products of the base units raised to a rational power.
This property relates a unit system with a unit of measure that is defined by the system.
This property relates a system of units to a unit of measure that is defined within the system in terms of the base units for the system. That is, the derived unit is defined as a product of the base units for the system raised to some rational power.
This property relates a system of units with a unit of measure that is either a) defined by the system, or b) accepted for use by the system and is convertible to a unit of equivalent dimension that is defined by the system. Systems of units may distinguish between base and derived units. Base units are the units which measure the base quantities for the corresponding system of quantities. The base units are used to define units for all other quantities as products of powers of the base units. Such units are called derived units for the system.
A reference to the unit of measure of a quantity (variable or constant) of interest.
This property relates a unit of measure with a system of units that either a) defines the unit or b) allows the unit to be used within the system.
A property to relate an observable thing with a quantity value (qud:QuantityValue)
ksi
Absolute humidity is the mass of water in a particular volume of air. It is a measure of the density of water vapor in an atmosphere.
Absorbed dose (also known as Total Ionizing Dose, TID) is a measure of the energy deposited in a medium by ionizing radiation. It is equal to the energy deposited per unit mass of medium, and so has the unit J/kg, which is given the special name Gray (Gy). Note that the absorbed dose is not a good indicator of the likely biological effect. 1 Gy of alpha radiation would be much more biologically damaging than 1 Gy of photon radiation for example. Appropriate weighting factors can be applied reflecting the different relative biological effects to find the equivalent dose. The risk of stoctic effects due to radiation exposure can be quantified using the effective dose, which is a weighted average of the equivalent dose to each organ depending upon its radiosensitivity. When ionising radiation is used to treat cancer, the doctor will usually prescribe the radiotherapy treatment in Gy. When risk from ionising radiation is being discussed, a related unit, the Sievert is used.
Acceleration is the (instantaneous) rate of change of velocity. Acceleration may be either linear acceleration, or angular acceleration. It is a vector quantity with dimension length/time^2 for linear acceleration, or in the case of angular acceleration, with dimension angle/time^2. In SI units, linear acceleration is measured in meters/second^2 (m·s^-2) and angular acceleration is measured in radians/second^2. In common speech, the term acceleration is only used for an increase in speed. In physics, any increase or decrease in speed is referred to as acceleration and similarly, motion in a circle at constant speed is also an acceleration, since the direction component of the velocity is changing.
Activity is the term used to characterise the number of nuclei which disintegrate in a radioactive substance per unit time. Activity is usually measured in Becquerels (Bq), where 1 Bq is 1 disintegration per second.
The inclination to each other of two intersecting lines, measured by the arc of a circle intercepted between the two lines forming the angle, the center of the circle being the point of intersection. An acute angle is less than 90°; a right angle 90 °; an obtuse angle, more than 90° but less than 180 °; a straight angle, 180°; a reflex angle, more than 180° but less than 360°; a perigon, 360°. Any angle not a multiple of 90° is an oblique angle. If the sum of two angles is 90°, they are complementary angles; if 180°, supplementary angles; if 360°, explementary angles. Two adjacent angles have a common vertex and lie on opposite sides of a common side. A dihedral angle is the angle between two intersecting planes. A spherical angle is the angle between two intersecting great circles.
Angular acceleration is the rate of change of angular velocity over time. Measurement of the change made in the rate of change of an angle that a spinning object undergoes per unit time. It is a vector quantity. Also called Rotational acceleration. In SI units, it is measured in radians per second squared (rad/s^2), and is usually denoted by the Greek letter alpha.
Angular frequency is a scalar measure of rotation rate. It is the magnitude of the vector quantity angular velocity.
Quantity of rotational motion. Linear momentum is the quantity obtained by multiplying the mass of a body by its linear velocity. Angular momentum is the quantity obtained by multiplying the moment of inertia of a body by its angular velocity. The momentum of a system of particles is given by the sum of the momenta of the individual particles which make up the system or by the product of the total mass of the system and the velocity of the center of gravity of the system. The momentum of a continuous medium is given by the integral of the velocity over the mass of the medium or by the product of the total mass of the medium and the velocity of the center of gravity of the medium. In physics, the angular momentum of an object rotating about some reference point is the measure of the extent to which the object will continue to rotate about that point unless acted upon by an external torque. In particular, if a point mass rotates about an axis, then the angular momentum with respect to a point on the axis is related to the mass of the object, the velocity and the distance of the mass to the axis. While the motion associated with linear momentum has no absolute frame of reference, the rotation associated with angular momentum is sometimes spoken of as being measured relative to the fixed stars.
The change of angle per unit time; specifically, in celestial mechanics, the change in angle of the radius vector per unit time.
Area is a quantity expressing the two-dimensional size of a defined part of a surface, typically a region bounded by a closed curve.
An Asset is an economic resource owned by a business or company. Simply stated, assets are things of value that can be readily converted into cash (although cash itself is also considered an asset).
The pressure exerted at a point due to the presence of an atmosphere. In most circumstances atmospheric pressure is closely approximated by the hydrostatic pressure caused by the weight of air above the measurement point. Low pressure areas have less atmospheric mass above their location, whereas high pressure areas have more atmospheric mass above their location. Similarly, as elevation increases there is less overlying atmospheric mass, so that pressure decreases with increasing elevation. [Wikipedia]
Magnetic Fields surround magnetic materials and electric currents and are detected by the force they exert on other magnetic materials and moving electric charges. The electric and magnetic fields are two interrelated aspects of a single object, called the electromagnetic field. A pure electric field in one reference frame is observed as a combination of both an electric field and a magnetic field in a moving reference frame. The Auxillary Magnetic Field, H characterizes how the true Magnetic Field B influences the organization of magnetic dipoles in a given medium.
Capacitance is the ability of a body to hold an electrical charge; it is quantified as the amount of electric charge stored for a given electric potential. Capacitance is a scalar-valued quantity.
In computer operations, (a) the largest quantity which can be stored, processed, or transferred; (b) the largest number of digits or characters which may regularly be processed; (c) the upper and lower limits of the quantities which may be processed. In other contexts, the amount of material that can be stored, such as fuel or food.
In fluid dynamics, circulation is the line integral around a closed curve of the fluid velocity. It has dimensions of length squared over time.
The compressibility factor (Z) is a useful thermodynamic property for modifying the ideal gas law to account for the real gas behaviour. The closer a gas is to a phase change, the larger the deviations from ideal behavior. Values for compressibility are calculated using equations of state (EOS), such as the virial equation and van der Waals equation. The compressibility factor for specific gases can be obtained, with out calculation, from compressibility charts. These charts are created by plotting Z as a function of pressure at constant temperature.
Cubic Electric Dipole Moment per Square Energy
The canonical example of extrinsic curvature is that of a circle, which has curvature equal to the inverse of its radius everywhere. Smaller circles bend more sharply, and hence have higher curvature. The curvature of a smooth curve is defined as the curvature of its osculating circle at each point. The osculating circle of a sufficiently smooth plane curve at a given point on the curve is the circle whose center lies on the inner normal line and whose curvature is the same as that of the given curve at that point. This circle is tangent to the curve at the given point. That is, given a point P on a smooth curve C, the curvature of C at P is defined to be 1/R where R is the radius of the osculating circle of C at P. The magnitude of curvature at points on physical curves can be measured in diopters (also spelled dioptre) — this is the convention in optics. [Wikipedia]
The frequency derived from the period of time required to transmit one bit. This represents the amount of data transferred per second by a communications channel or a computing or storage device. Data rate is measured in units of bits per second (written "b/s" or "bps"), bytes per second (Bps), or baud. When applied to data rate, the multiplier prefixes "kilo-", "mega-", "giga-", etc. (and their abbreviations, "k", "M", "G", etc.) always denote powers of 1000. For example, 64 kbps is 64,000 bits per second. This contrasts with units of storage which use different prefixes to denote multiplication by powers of 1024, e.g. 1 kibibit = 1024 bits.
The equivalent dose to a tissue is found by multiplying the absorbed dose, in gray, by a dimensionless "quality factor" Q, dependent upon radiation type, and by another dimensionless factor N, dependent on all other pertinent factors. N depends upon the part of the body irradiated, the time and volume over which the dose was spread, even the species of the subject.
Dynamic Pressure (indicated with q, or Q, and sometimes called velocity pressure) is the quantity defined by: q = 1/2 * ρv^2 where (using SI units): q = dynamic pressure in pascals ρ = fluid density in kg/m3 (e.g. density of air) v = fluid velocity in m/s
Electric charge is a fundamental conserved property of some subatomic particles, which determines their electromagnetic interaction. Electrically charged matter is influenced by, and produces, electromagnetic fields. The electric charge on a body may be positive or negative. Two positively charged bodies experience a mutual repulsive force, as do two negatively charged bodies. A positively charged body and a negatively charged body experience an attractive force.
Electric conductivity or specific conductance is a measure of a material's ability to conduct an electric current. When an electrical potential difference is placed across a conductor, its movable charges flow, giving rise to an electric current. The conductivity σ is defined as the ratio of the electric current density J to the electric field E: J = σE In isotropic materials, conductivity is scalar-valued, however in general, conductivity is a tensor-valued quantity.
Electric Current is the flow (movement) of electric charge. The amount of electric current through some surface, e.g., a section through a copper conductor, is defined as the amount of electric charge flowing through that surface over time. Current is a scalar-valued quantity.
Electric current density is a measure of the density of flow of electric charge; it is the electric current per unit area of cross section. Electric current density is a vector-valued quantity.
The Electric Dipole Moment is a measure of the separation of positive and negative electrical charges in a system of (discrete or continuous) charges. It is a vector-valued quantity. If the system of charges is neutral, that is if the sum of all charges is zero, then the dipole moment of the system is independent of the choice of a reference frame; however in a non-neutral system, such as the dipole moment of a single proton, a dependence on the choice of reference point arises. In such cases it is conventional to choose the reference point to be the center of mass of the system or the center of charge, not some arbitrary origin. This convention ensures that the dipole moment is an intrinsic property of the system.
In a dielectric material the presence of an electric field E causes the bound charges in the material (atomic nuclei and their electrons) to slightly separate, inducing a local electric dipole moment. The Electric Displacement Field, D, is a vector field that accounts for the effects of free charges within such dielectric materials.
The space surrounding an electric charge or in the presence of a time-varying magnetic field has a property called an electric field. This electric field exerts a force on other electrically charged objects. In the idealized case, the force exerted between two point charges is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. (Coulomb's Law)
The Electric Flux through an area is defined as the electric field multiplied by the area of the surface projected in a plane perpendicular to the field. Electric Flux is a scalar-valued quantity.
The Electric Potential is a scalar valued quantity associated with an electric field. The electric potential Φ(x) at a point, x, is formally defined as the line integral of the electric field taken along a path from x to the point at infinity. If the electric field is static, i.e. time independent, then the choice of the path is arbitrary; however if the electric field is time dependent, taking the integral along different paths will produce different results.
Electric power is the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric circuit. In the simple case of direct current circuits, electric power can be calculated as the product of the potential difference in the circuit (V) and the amount of current flowing in the circuit (I): P = VI where P is the power V is the potential difference I is the current. However, in general electric power is calculated by taking the integral of the vector cross-product of the electrical and magnetic fields over a specified area.
The Electric Quadrupole Moment is a quantity which describes the effective shape of the ellipsoid of nuclear charge distribution. A non-zero quadrupole moment Q indicates that the charge distribution is not spherically symmetric. By convention, the value of Q is taken to be positive if the ellipsoid is prolate and negative if it is oblate. In general, the electric quadrupole moment is tensor-valued.
In physics, electromotive force, or most commonly emf (seldom capitalized), or (occasionally) electromotance is "that which tends to cause current (actual electrons and ions) to flow."[1]. More formally, emf is the external work expended per unit of charge to produce an electric potential difference across two open-circuited terminals.[2][3] The electric potential difference is created by separating positive and negative charges, thereby generating an electric field.[4][5] The created electrical potential difference drives current flow if a circuit is attached to the source of emf. When current flows, however, the voltage across the terminals of the source of emf is no longer the open-circuit value, due to voltage drops inside the device due to its internal resistance. [Wikipedia]
Energy and Work per Mass Amount of Substance
Energy density is defined as energy per unit volume. The SI unit for energy density is the joule per cubic meter.
Static enthalpy per unit mass. The specific enthalpy of a working mass is a property of that mass used in thermodynamics, defined as h=u+p . v where u is the specific internal energy, p is the pressure, and v is specific volume. In other words, h = H / m where m is the mass of the system. The SI unit for specific enthalpy is joules per kilogram. [Wikipedia]
The first moment of area is the summation of area times distance to an axis. It is a measure of the distribution of the area of a shape in relationship to an axis.
Force is an influence that causes mass to accelerate. It may be experienced as a lift, a push, or a pull. Force is defined by Newton's Second Law as F = m · a, where F is force, m is mass and a is acceleration. Net force is mathematically equal to the time rate of change of the momentum of the body on which it acts. Since momentum is a vector quantity (has both a magnitude and direction), force also is a vector quantity.
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. The repetition of the events may be periodic (i.e. the length of time between event repetitions is fixed) or aperiodic (i.e. the length of time between event repetitions varies). Therefore, we distinguish between periodic and aperiodic frequencies. In the SI system, periodic frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) or multiples of hertz, while aperiodic frequency is measured in becquerel (Bq).
Friction is the force of two surfaces In contact, or the force of a medium acting on a moving object (i.e. air on an aircraft). When contacting surfaces move relative to each other, the friction between the two objects converts kinetic energy into thermal energy.
A general term used to denote an increase in signal power or signal strength in transmission from one point to another. Gain is usually expressed in decibels and is widely used to denote transducer gain. An increase or amplification. In radar there are two general usages of the term: (a) antenna gain, or gain factor, is the ratio of the power transmitted along the beam axis to that of an isotropic radiator transmitting the same total power; (b) receiver gain, or video gain, is the amplification given a signal by the receiver.
Energy transferred by a thermal process. Heat can be measured in terms of the dynamical units of energy, as the erg, joule, etc., or in terms of the amount of energy required to produce a definite thermal change in some substance, as, for example, the energy required per degree to raise the temperature of a unit mass of water at some temperature ( calorie, Btu).
The heat capacity ratio, or ratio of specific heats, is the ratio of the heat capacity at constant pressure (C_P) to heat capacity at constant volume (C_V). For an ideal gas, the heat capacity is constant with temperature (Θ). Accordingly we can express the enthalpy as H = C_P*Θ and the internal energy as U = C_V*Θ. Thus, it can also be said that the heat capacity ratio is the ratio between enthalpy and internal energy
Illuminance is the total luminous flux incident on a surface, per unit area. It is a measure of the intensity of the incident light, wavelength-weighted by the luminosity function to correlate with human brightness perception.
Inductance is an electromagentic quantity that characterizes a circuit's resistance to any change of electric current; a change in the electric current through induces an opposing electromotive force (EMF). Quantitatively, inductance is proportional to the magnetic flux per unit of electric current.
Irradiance and Radiant Emittance are radiometry terms for the power per unit area of electromagnetic radiation at a surface. "Irradiance" is used when the electromagnetic radiation is incident on the surface. "Radiant emmitance" (or "radiant exitance") is used when the radiation is emerging from the surface.
The Kinematic Viscosity of a fluid is the dynamic viscosity divided by the fluid density.
The energy which a body possesses as a consequence of its motion, defined as one-half the product of its mass m and the square of its speed v, 1/2 mv^2. The kinetic energy per unit volume of a fluid parcel is the 1/2 p v2 , where p is the density and v the speed of the parcel. See potential energy. For relativistic speeds the kinetic energy is given by Ek = mc^2 - m0c^2 where c is the velocity of light in a vacuum, m0 is the rest mass, and m is the moving mass.
Linear momentum is the product of mass and linear velocity. The SI unit for linear momentum is meter-kilogram per second (m-kg/s).
Luminance is a photometric measure of the luminous intensity per unit area of light travelling in a given direction. It describes the amount of light that passes through or is emitted from a particular area, and falls within a given solid angle.
Luminous Efficacy is the ratio of luminous flux (in lumens) to power (usually measured in watts). Depending on context, the power can be either the radiant flux of the source's output, or it can be the total electric power consumed by the source.
Luminous Emittance is the luminous flux per unit area emitted from a surface.
Luminous Energy is the perceived energy of light. This is sometimes also called the quantity of light.
Luminous Flux or Luminous Power is the measure of the perceived power of light. It differs from radiant flux, the measure of the total power of light emitted, in that luminous flux is adjusted to reflect the varying sensitivity of the human eye to different wavelengths of light.
Luminous Intensity is a measure of the wavelength-weighted power emitted by a light source in a particular direction per unit solid angle. The weighting is determined by the luminosity function, a standardized model of the sensitivity of the human eye to different wavelengths.
Mach number (Ma) is the speed of an object moving through air, or any fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance: M = V_o/V_s where M is the Mach number V_o is the velocity of the object relative to the medium and V_s is the velocity of sound in the medium The Mach number is commonly used both with objects traveling at high speed in a fluid, and with high-speed fluid flows inside channels such as nozzles, diffusers or wind tunnels. As it is defined as a ratio of two speeds, it is a dimensionless number. [Wikipedia]
The magnetic moment of a system is a measure of the magnitude and the direction of its magnetism. Magnetic moment usually refers to its Magnetic Dipole Moment, and quantifies the contribution of the system's internal magnetism to the external dipolar magnetic field produced by the system (that is, the component of the external magnetic field that is inversely proportional to the cube of the distance to the observer). The Magnetic Dipole Moment is a vector-valued quantity.
The Magnetic Field, denoted B, is a fundamental field in electrodynamics which characterizes the magnetic force exerted by electric currents. It is closely related to the auxillary magnetic field H (see quantity:AuxillaryMagneticField).
Magnetic Flux is the product of the average magnetic field times the perpendicular area that it penetrates.
The Magnetization Field is defined as the ratio of magnetic moment per unit volume. It is a vector-valued quantity.
Magnetomotive Force (mmf) is the ability of an electric circuit to produce magnetic flux. Just as the ability of a battery to produce electric current is called its electromotive force or emf, mmf is taken as the work required to move a unit magnet pole from any point through any path which links the electric circuit back the same point in the presence of the magnetic force produced by the electric current in the circuit.
In chemistry, the mole fraction of a component in a mixture is the relative proportion of molecules belonging to the component to those in the mixture, by number of molecules. It is one way of measuring concentration.
The molecular mass, or molecular weight of a chemical compound is the mass of one molecule of that compound, relative to the unified atomic mass unit, u. Molecular mass should not be confused with molar mass, which is the mass of one mole of a substance.
Quantity of motion. Linear momentum is the quantity obtained by multiplying the mass of a body by its linear speed. Angular momentum is the quantity obtained by multiplying the moment of inertia of a body by its angular speed. The momentum of a system of particles is given by the sum of the momentums of the individual particles which make up the system or by the product of the total mass of the system and the velocity of the center of gravity of the system. The momentum of a continuous medium is given by the integral of the velocity over the mass of the medium or by the product of the total mass of the medium and the velocity of the center of gravity of the medium.
In physics, astronomy, and chemistry, number density (symbol: n) is a kind of quantity used to describe the degree of concentration of countable objects (atoms, molecules, dust particles, galaxies, etc.) in the three-dimensional physical space.
Permeability is the degree of magnetization of a material that responds linearly to an applied magnetic field. In general permeability is a tensor-valued quantity.
Permittivity is a physical quantity that describes how an electric field affects, and is affected by a dielectric medium, and is determined by the ability of a material to polarize in response to the field, and thereby reduce the total electric field inside the material. Permittivity is often a scalar valued quantity, however in the general case it is tensor-valued.
The polar moment of inertia is a quantity used to predict an object's ability to resist torsion, in objects (or segments of objects) with an invariant circular cross-section and no significant warping or out-of-plane deformation. It is used to calculate the angular displacement of an object subjected to a torque. It is analogous to the area moment of inertia, which characterizes an object's ability to resist bending.
Polarizability is the relative tendency of a charge distribution, like the electron cloud of an atom or molecule, to be distorted from its normal shape by an external electric field, which may be caused by the presence of a nearby ion or dipole. The electronic polarizability α is defined as the ratio of the induced dipole moment of an atom to the electric field that produces this dipole moment. Polarizability is often a scalar valued quantity, however in the general case it is tensor-valued.
The Polarization Field is the vector field that expresses the density of permanent or induced electric dipole moments in a dielectric material. The polarization vector P is defined as the ratio of electric dipole moment per unit volume.
Energy possessed by a body by virtue of its position in a gravity field in contrast with kinetic energy, that possessed by virtue of its motion.
Power is the rate at which work is performed or energy is transmitted, or the amount of energy required or expended for a given unit of time. As a rate of change of work done or the energy of a subsystem, power is: P = W/t where P is power W is work t is time. [Wikipedia]
Pressure is an effect which occurs when a force is applied on a surface. Pressure is the amount of force acting on a unit area. Pressure is distinct from stress, as the former is the ratio of the component of force normal to a surface to the surface area. Stress is a tensor that relates the vector force to the vector area.
Quartic Electric Dipole Moment per Cubic Energy
Radiance is a radiometric measure that describes the amount of light that passes through or is emitted from a particular area, and falls within a given solid angle in a specified direction.
Radiant Energy is the energy of electromagnetic waves. The quantity of radiant energy may be calculated by integrating radiant flux (or power) with respect to time
Radiant Flux, or radiant power, is the measure of the total power of electromagnetic radiation (including infrared, ultraviolet, and visible light). The power may be the total emitted from a source, or the total landing on a particular surface.
Radiant Intensity is a measure of the intensity of electromagnetic radiation. It is defined as power per unit solid angle.
Radiosity is the total emitted and reflected radiation leaving a surface.
The electrical resistance of an object is a measure of its opposition to the passage of a steady electric current.
The Reynolds number (Re) is a dimensionless number defined as the ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces and, consequently, it quantifies the relative importance of these two types of forces for given flow conditions.
The second moment of area is a property of a physical object that can be used to predict its resistance to bending and deflection. The deflection of an object under load depends not only on the load, but also on the geometry of the object's cross-section.
In telecommunications, particularly in radio, signal strength refers to the magnitude of the electric field at a reference point that is a significant distance from the transmitting antenna. It may also be referred to as received signal level or field strength. Typically, it is expressed in voltage per length or signal power received by a reference antenna. High-powered transmissions, such as those used in broadcasting, are expressed in dB-millivolts per metre (dBmV/m). [Wikipedia]
Specific volume (ν) is the volume occupied by a unit of mass of a material. It is equal to the inverse of density.
Static Pressure is the pressure at a nominated point in a fluid. Every point in a steadily flowing fluid, regardless of the fluid speed at that point, has its own static pressure P, dynamic pressure q, and total pressure P_0. The total pressure is the sum of the dynamic and static pressures, i.e. P_0 = P + q.
In any branch of science dealing with materials and their behaviour, strain is the geometrical expression of deformation caused by the action of stress on a physical body. Strain is calculated by first assuming a change between two body states: the beginning state and the final state. Then the difference in placement of two points in this body in those two states expresses the numerical value of strain. Strain therefore expresses itself as a change in size and/or shape. [Wikipedia]
Stress is a measure of the average amount of force exerted per unit area of a surface within a deformable body on which internal forces act. In other words, it is a measure of the intensity or internal distribution of the total internal forces acting within a deformable body across imaginary surfaces. These internal forces are produced between the particles in the body as a reaction to external forces applied on the body.
The electromagnetic system of units is used to measure electrical quantities of electric charge, current, and voltage, within the centimeter gram second (or "CGS") metric system of units. In electromagnetic units, electric current is derived the CGS base units length, mass, and time by solving Ampere's Law (expressing the force between two parallel conducting wires) for current and setting the constant of proportionality (k_m) equal to unity. Thus, in the CGS-EMU system, electric current is derived from length, mass, and time.
The electrostatic system of units is used to measure electrical quantities of electric charge, current, and voltage within the centimeter gram second (or "CGS") metric system of units. In electrostatic units, electric charge is derived from Coulomb's Law (expressing the force exerted between two charged particles separated by a distance) by solving for electric charge and setting the constant of proportionality (k_s) equal to unity. Thus, in electrostatic units, the dimensionality of electric charge is derived from the base CGS quantities of length, mass, and time.
Tension is the magnitude of the pulling force exerted by a string, cable, chain, or similar object on another object. It is the opposite of compression.
Thermal efficiency is a dimensionless performance measure of a thermal device such as an internal combustion engine, a boiler, or a furnace. The input to the device is heat, or the heat-content of a fuel that is consumed. The desired output is mechanical work, or heat, or possibly both.
The reciprocal of thermal conductivity is thermal resistivity, measured in kelvin-metres per watt (K*m/W).
Thermodynamic Entropy is a measure of the unavailability of a system’s energy to do work. It is a measure of the randomness of molecules in a system and is central to the second law of thermodynamics and the fundamental thermodynamic relation, which deal with physical processes and whether they occur spontaneously. Spontaneous changes, in isolated systems, occur with an increase in entropy. Spontaneous changes tend to smooth out differences in temperature, pressure, density, and chemical potential that may exist in a system, and entropy is thus a measure of how far this smoothing-out process has progressed. It can be seen that the dimensions of entropy are energy divided by temperature, which is the same as the dimensions of Boltzmann's constant (kB) and heat capacity. The SI unit of entropy is joule per kelvin. [Wikipedia]
Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's Second and Third Laws. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction the accelerated mass will cause a proportional but opposite force on that system. 1. The pushing or pulling force developed by an aircraft engine or a rocket engine. 2. The force exerted in any direction by a fluid jet or by a powered screw, as, the thrust of an antitorque rotor. 3. (symbol F). Specifically, in rocketry, F = mv where m is propellant mass flow and v is exhaust velocity relative to the vehicle. Also called momentum thrust.
Time is a basic component of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify the motions of objects.
In physics, a torque (τ) is a vector that measures the tendency of a force to rotate an object about some axis [1]. The magnitude of a torque is defined as force times its lever arm [2]. Just as a force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist. The SI unit for torque is newton meters (N m). In U.S. customary units, it is measured in foot pounds (ft lbf) (also known as 'pounds feet'). Mathematically, the torque on a particle (which has the position r in some reference frame) can be defined as the cross product: τ = r x F where r is the particle's position vector relative to the fulcrum F is the force acting on the particles, or, more generally, torque can be defined as the rate of change of angular momentum, τ = dL/dt where L is the angular momentum vector t stands for time. [Wikipedia]
The total pressure is the sum of the dynamic and static pressures, i.e. P_0 = P + q.
Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid, or of air, caused by individual particles (suspended solids) that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. Turbidity in open water is often caused by phytoplankton and the measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality. The higher the turbidity, the higher the risk of the drinkers developing gastrointestinal diseases, especially for immune-compromised people, because contaminants like virus or bacteria can become attached to the suspended solid. The suspended solids interfere with water disinfection with chlorine because the particles act as shields for the virus and bacteria. Similarly suspended solids can protect bacteria from UV sterilisation of water. Fluids can contain suspended solid matter consisting of particles of many different sizes. While some suspended material will be large enough and heavy enough to settle rapidly to the bottom container if a liquid sample is left to stand (the settleable solids), very small particles will settle only very slowly or not at all if the sample is regularly agitated or the particles are colloidal. These small solid particles cause the liquid to appear turbid.
Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluid which is being deformed by either shear stress or extensional stress. In general terms it is the resistance of a liquid to flow, or its "thickness". Viscosity describes a fluid's internal resistance to flow and may be thought of as a measure of fluid friction. [Wikipedia]
The volume of a solid object is the three-dimensional concept of how much space it occupies, often quantified numerically. One-dimensional figures (such as lines) and two-dimensional shapes (such as squares) are assigned zero volume in the three-dimensional space.
In the simplest sense, vorticity is the tendency for elements of a fluid to "spin." More formally, vorticity can be related to the amount of "circulation" or "rotation" (or more strictly, the local angular rate of rotation) in a fluid. The average vorticity in a small region of fluid flow is equal to the circulation C around the boundary of the small region, divided by the area A of the small region. Mathematically, vorticity is a vector field and is defined as the curl of the velocity field.
1. The force with which a body is attracted toward an astronomical body. 2. The product of the mass of a body and the acceleration acting on a body. In a dynamic situation, the weight can be a multiple of that under resting conditions. Weight also varies on other planets in accordance with their gravity.
The abampere (aA), also called the biot after Jean-Baptiste Biot, is the basic electromagnetic unit of electric current in the emu-cgs system of units (electromagnetic cgs). One abampere is equal to ten amperes in the SI system of units. [Wikipedia]
The abcoulomb (abC or aC) or electromagnetic unit of charge (emu of charge) is the basic physical unit of electric charge in the cgs-emu system of units. One abcoulomb is equal to ten coulombs. [Wikipedia]
An abfarad is an obsolete electromagnetic (CGS) unit of capacitance equal to 10^9 farads (1,000,000,000 F or 1 GF). This very large unit is used in medical terminology only. [Wikipedia]
The ångström or angstrom (symbol Å) (the latter spelling, without diacritics, is now usually used in English) (pronounced /ˈæŋstrəm/; Swedish: [ˈɔŋstrøm]) is an internationally recognized unit of length equal to 0.1 nanometre or 1×10−10 metres. It is named after Anders Jonas Ångström. Although accepted for use, it is not formally defined within the International System of Units(SI). (That article lists the units that are so defined.) The ångström is often used in the natural sciences to express the sizes of atoms, lengths of chemical bonds and the wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, and in technology for the dimensions of parts of integrated circuits. It is also commonly used in structural biology. [Wikipedia]
The unified atomic mass unit (symbol: u) or dalton (symbol: Da) is a unit that is used for indicating mass on an atomic or molecular scale. It is defined as one twelfth of the rest mass of an unbound atom of carbon-12 in its nuclear and electronic ground state,[1] and has a value of 1.660538782(83)×10−27 kg.[2] One Da is approximately equal to the mass of one proton or one neutron. The CIPM have categorised it as a "non-SI unit whose values in SI units must be obtained experimentally".[1] [Wikipedia]
Australia, Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Heard and McDonald Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Norfolk Island, Tuvalu
A ban is a logarithmic unit which measures information or entropy, based on base 10 logarithms and powers of 10, rather than the powers of 2 and base 2 logarithms which define the bit. One ban is approximately 3.32 (log_2 10) bits.
In information theory, a bit is the amount of information that, on average, can be stored in a discrete bit. It is thus the amount of information carried by a choice between two equally likely outcomes. One bit corresponds to about 0.693 nats (ln(2)), or 0.301 hartleys (log10(2)).
The British thermal unit (BTU or Btu) is a traditional unit of energy equal to about 1 055.05585 joules. It is approximately the amount of energy needed to heat 1 pound (0.454 kg) of water from 39 °F (3.9 °C) to 40 °F (4.4 °C). The unit is most often used in the power, steam generation, heating and air conditioning industries. In scientific contexts the BTU has largely been replaced by the SI unit of energy, the joule, though it may be used as a measure of agricultural energy production (BTU/kg). It is still used unofficially in metric English-speaking countries (such as Canada), and remains the standard unit of classification for air conditioning units manufactured and sold in many non-English-speaking metric countries.
British Thermal Unit - International Steam Table
British Thermal Unit - Thermochemical Calorie
BTU Foot per Square Foot Hour Degree Fahrenheit
BTU Inch per Square Foot Hour Degree Fahrenheit
BTU Inch per Square Foot Second Degree Fahrenheit
The British thermal unit (BTU or Btu) is a traditional unit of energy equal to about 1 055.05585 joules. It is approximately the amount of energy needed to heat 1 pound (0.454 kg) of water from 39 °F (3.9 °C) to 40 °F (4.4 °C). The unit is most often used in the power, steam generation, heating and air conditioning industries. In scientific contexts the BTU has largely been replaced by the SI unit of energy, the joule, though it may be used as a measure of agricultural energy production (BTU/kg). [Wikipedia]
BTU per Square Foot Hour Degree Fahrenheit
BTU per Square Foot Second Degree Fahrenheit
Benin, Burkina Faso, C�te d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo
Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon
French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna
A dioptre, or diopter, is a unit of measurement of the optical power of a lens or curved mirror, which is equal to the reciprocal of the focal length measured in metres (that is, 1/metres). For example, a 3 dioptre lens brings parallel rays of light to focus at 1/3 metre. The same unit is also sometimes used for other reciprocals of distance, particularly radii of curvature and the vergence of optical beams. Though the diopter is based on the SI-metric system it has not been included in the standard so that there is no international name or abbreviation for this unit of measurement—within the international system of units this unit for optical power would need to be specified explicitly as the inverse metre. [Wikipedia]
Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
European Composite Unit (EURCO) (Bonds market unit)
European Monetary Unit (E.M.U.-6) (Bonds market unit)
European Unit of Account 17 (E.U.A.-17) (Bonds market unit)
European Unit of Account 9 (E.U.A.-9) (Bonds market unit)
The fundamental unit of magnetomotive force (mmf) in electromagnetic units is called a Gilbert. It is the mmf which will produce a magnetic field strength of one Gauss (Maxwell per Square Centimeter) in a path one centimeter long.
Gold franc (special settlement currency)
the tangent of an angle of inclination multiplied by 100
A hartree (symbol E_h) is the atomic unit of energy. The hartree energy is equal to the absolute value of the electric potential energy of the hydrogen atom in its ground state.
Joule per Kilogram Kelvin per Cubic Meter
Calorie per Centimeter Second Degree Celsius
Kilocalorie per Square Centimeter Minute
Kilocalorie per Square Centimeter Second
A unit of length defining the distance, in meters, that light travels in a vacuum in one year.
Mexican Unidad de Inversion (UDI) (Funds code)
The Mil unit of plane angle, as defined by NATO to be 1/6400 of a circle.
The millimeter of mercury is defined as the pressure exerted at the base of a column of fluid exactly 1 mm high, when the density of the fluid is exactly 13.5951 g/cm3, at a place where the acceleration of gravity is exactly 9.80665 m/s^2.
Millimeters of Mercury inclusive of atmospheric pressure
A nat is a logarithmic unit of information or entropy, based on natural logarithms and powers of e, rather than the powers of 2 and base 2 logarithms which define the bit. The nat is the natural unit for information entropy. Physical systems of natural units which normalize Boltzmann's constant to 1 are effectively measuring thermodynamic entropy in nats.
Taiwan and other islands that are under the effective control of the Republic of China (ROC)
Cook Islands, New Zealand, Niue, Pitcairn, Tokelau
An ounce of mass is 1/16th of a pound of mass, based on the international standard definition of the pound as exactly 0.45359237 kg.
An obsolete unit of mass; the Troy Ounce is 1/12th of a Troy Pound. Based on the international definition of a Troy Pound as 5760 grains, the Troy Ounce is exactly 480 grains, or 0.0311034768 kg.
The parsec (parallax of one arcsecond; symbol: pc) is a unit of length, equal to just under 31 trillion (31×1012) kilometres (about 19 trillion miles), 206265 AU, or about 3.26 light-years. The parsec measurement unit is used in astronomy. It is defined as the length of the adjacent side of an imaginary right triangle in space. The two dimensions that specify this triangle are the parallax angle (defined as 1 arcsecond) and the opposite side (defined as 1 astronomical unit (AU), the distance from the Earth to the Sun). Given these two measurements, along with the rules of trigonometry, the length of the adjacent side (the parsec) can be found. [Wikipedia]
A pound of mass, based on the international standard definition of the pound as exactly 0.45359237 kg.
An obsolete unit of mass; the Troy Pound has been defined as exactly 5760 grains, or 0.3732417216 kg. A Troy Ounce is 1/12th of a Troy Pound.
The radian is the standard unit of angular measure, used in many areas of mathematics. It describes the plane angle subtended by a circular arc as the length of the arc divided by the radius of the arc. The unit was formerly a SI supplementary unit, but this category was abolished in 1995 and the radian is now considered a SI derived unit. The SI unit of solid angle measurement is the steradian. The radian is represented by the symbol "rad" or, more rarely, by the superscript c (for "circular measure"). For example, an angle of 1.2 radians would be written as "1.2 rad" or "1.2c" (the second symbol is often mistaken for a degree: "1.2°"). As the ratio of two lengths, the radian is a "pure number" that needs no unit symbol, and in mathematical writing the symbol "rad" is almost always omitted. In the absence of any symbol radians are assumed, and when degrees are meant the symbol ° is used. [Wikipedia]
The register ton is a unit of volume used for the cargo capacity of a ship, defined as 100 cubic feet (roughly 2.83 cubic metres).
A unit of distance equal to 5.5 yards (16 feet 6 inches).
The number of discrete samples of some thing per second.
Although the sievert has the same dimensions as the gray (i.e. joules per kilogram), it measures a different quantity. To avoid any risk of confusion between the absorbed dose and the equivalent dose, the corresponding special units, namely the gray instead of the joule per kilogram for absorbed dose and the sievert instead of the joule per kilogram for the dose equivalent, should be used.
Square Foot Hour Degree Fahrenheit per BTU
The steradian (symbol: sr) is the SI unit of solid angle. It is used to describe two-dimensional angular spans in three-dimensional space, analogous to the way in which the radian describes angles in a plane.
Atomic units (au or a.u.) form a system of natural units which is especially convenient for atomic physics calculations. There are two different kinds of atomic units, which one might name Hartree atomic units[1] and Rydberg atomic units, which differ in the choice of the unit of mass and charge. [Wikipedia]
The electrostatic system of units is a system of units used to measure electrical quantities of electric charge, current, and voltage, within the centimeter gram second (or "CGS") metric system of units. In electrostatic units, electrical charge is defined via the force it exerts on other charges.
Planck units are unique among systems of natural units, because they are not defined in terms of properties of any prototype, physical object, or even elementary particle. [Wikipedia]
American Samoa, British Indian Ocean Territory, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guam, Haiti, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Panama, Puerto Rico, East Timor, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States, Virgin Islands
United States Dollar (next day) (funds code)
United States Dollar (same day) (funds code)
A magnetic pole is a unit pole if it exerts a force of one dyne on another pole of equal strength at a distance of 1 cm. The strength of any given pole in cgs units is therefore numerically equal to the force in dynes which it exerts on a unit pole 1 cm away.
An explicit unit to say something has no units.
Heat flux density, irradiance, power density
A sidereal year is the time taken for Sun to return to the same position with respect to the stars of the celestial sphere.
has license type
distribution is unlimited; attribution would be appreciated
Clare Paul, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
The lower-level schema ontologies for materials properties and qualities are contained in separate files and imported into this ontology. Note that a materials property are a kind of materials quality.
This is the base schema for the materials property ontology. It describes all the properties, the higher-level classes, and a handful of instances.
This materials property ontology is intended to be conformant with the Basic Formal Ontology (BFO).
This ontology is very much a working draft! {en-US}
Materials Property Ontology Schema
A-basis statistic
B-basis statistic
a quality of a portion of material
a collection of materials properties for a specific set of conditions (e.g. grain direction, temperature)
maximum statistical value
mean statistical value
high median statistical value
low median statistical value
median statistical value
minimum statistical value
mode statistical value
a portion of material
S-basis statistic
This ontology describes the classes for material property conditions.
Materials Property Condition Schema
computaton approach
crack extension mode
edge distance to hole diameter ratio
The grain direction isn't really a materials quality. It’s sort of an orientaion framework.
grain direction
The grain direction relative to a crack plane isn't really a materials quality. It’s sort of an orientaion framework.
grain direction relative to crack plane
maximum temperature of material
minimum temperature of material
reference electrical resistivity
stress intensity range
surrounding environment
temperature of material
two-dimension stress/strain state
This ontology describes the classes for material properties and reflects much of the orginizational structure found in ASM Ready Reference: Properties and Units for Engineering Alloys.
Materials Property Property Schema
Unitless
acoustic dissipation
absorption of sound in a medium.
AcousticOhm
Pascal
ultimate bearing strength
bearing yield strength
bending strength
Kelvin
boiling point temperature
Number
brinell hardness
chord modulus
WattPerSquareMeterKelvin
coefficient of heat transfer
PerKelvin
linear expansion coefficient
AmperePerMeter
coercivity
PerPascal
compressibility
compressive stength
compressive yield strength
Volt
corrosion potential
MeterPerYear
corrosion rate
PascalSquareRootMeter
crack arrest toughness
Percent
creep rupture ductility E
creep rupture ductility R
creep strength
critical pitting potential
JoulePerSquareMeter
critical value of J integral
curie temperature
strain hardening exponent
strength coefficient
cylic yield strength
LogarithmicDecrement
damping capacity
Logarithimic decrement / 1 period of oscillation
PerSecond
damping factor
decomposition potential
SquareMeterPerSecond
diffusion frequency factor
ductile brittle transistion temperature
dynamic fracture toughness
Joule
dynamic tear energy
PascalSecond
dynamic viscosity
ability of a material to conduct electricity. Inversely related to electric resistance. G = 1/R
Siemens
electrical conductance
ability of a material to conduct electricity.
SiemensPerMeter
electric conductance
Ohm
electric resistance
OhmMeter
electrical resistivity
electrode potential
electrokinetic potential
JoulePerMoleKelvin
electronic heat capacity
JoulePerKilogram
latentheat of fusion
latent heat of evaporation
JoulePerMole
enthalpy of combustion
equilibrium potential
fatgue life mech load cycles
MeterPerCycle
fatigue crack growth rate
fatigue ductility exponent
fatigue ductilty coefficient
EnduranceLimit / TensileStrength
fatigue endurance ratio
Hour
fatigue life time
fatigue limit
fatigue notch factor
fatigue notch sensitivity
cyclic strength coefficient
fatigue strength exponent
fatigue strength
The true stress needed to create plastic deformation.
flow stress
Rhe
fluidity
fracture appearance transition temperature
fracture ductility
fracture stress
fracture toughness
glass transition temperature
grain size
Coefficient in the Hall Effect equation.
CubicMeterPerCoulomb
hall coefficient
JoulePerKelvin
heatcapacity
impact toughness
Tesla
intrinsic magnetic induction
kinematic viscosity
knoop hardness
lattice parameter
liquidus temperature
WattPerKilogram
magnetic core loss
magnetic field strength at Bhmax
magnetic field strength
matnetic induction at Bhmax
magnetic induction
JoulePerCubicMeter
magnetic hysteresis loss
magnetic peak inductance
magnetic susceptibility
JoulePerSquareTeslaCubicMeter
volume susceptibility
magnetic field requirement
SquareMeterPerAmpereSquared
magnetoresistance coefficient
CubicCentimeterPerGram
mass susceptibility
melting point
melting range
Meter
bend radius
PercentPerHour
secondary creep
modulus of compression
modulus of rigidity
CubicCentimeterPerMole
molar susceptibility
nil ductility transistion temperature
notch rupture strength
notch tensile strength
percent elongation at failure
percent reduction of area at failure
HenryPerMeter
permeability
plane strain fracture toughness
plane stress fracture toughness
plastic strain ratio
poisson number
MeterPerMeter
redox potential
relative electrical resistivity
relative permeability
repassivation potential
magnetic residual induction
rockwell hardness
The time to rupture obtained from creep-rupture testing at constant stress and temperature (ASM).
rupture life
MeterPerSecond
stress corrosion cracking crack growth rate
stress corrosion cracking stress intensity threshold
scleroscope hardness
secant modulus
service temperature maximum
ultimate shear strength
shear yield strength
wave propagation velocity
Rayl
JoulePerKilogramKelvin
specific heat capacity
NewtonMeterPerKilogram
specific strength
weight per unit volume
NewtonPerCubicMeter
specific weight
emittance
optical reflectance
standard electrode potential
tangent modulus
modulus of elasticity
tensile strain to failure
tensile ultimate strength
tensile yield strength
The change in resistivity as a function of temperature.
thermal coefficient of resistivity
WattPerMeterKelvin
thermal conductivity
thermal diffusivity
thermoelectric potential
torsional strength
vapor pressure
MeterperSecond
velocity of sound
vickers hardness
TBD
volume conductivity
KilogramPerCubicMeter
mass density
SiemenSquareMeterPerGram
weight basis conductivity
OhmGramPerSquareMeter
weight resistivity
GramPerSquareMeter
weight gain
weight loss
yield point
yield strain
yield strength
The LinkedModel DTYPE Ontology is issued under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Attribution should be made to TopQuadrant, Inc..
The ontology 'dtype' provides a specification of simple data types such as enumerations and codelists. These are needed in support of the conversion of XML Schemas and UML Models to OWL.
The purpose of 'dtype' is to provide a foundation for expressing rich data types. These data types are typically needed when dealing with OWL representations of data structures derived from XML Schema.
Vocabulary for Attaching Essential Metadata
VAEM stands for "Vocabulary for Attaching Essential Metadata". The purpose of VAEM is to provide, by import, a foundation for commonly needed resources when building an ontology. An effort has been made to restrict these resources to a minimal level. What VAEM regards as 'essential metadata' is data about dates and times, confidentiality, and other characterisitic qualifiers of the ontology, but also references to where a ontology is documented and where to find ontology Governance, Attribution and Provenance. VAEM also defines classes for representing enumerations and enumerated values.
A property for expressing an encoded value. The range has been set to 'xsd:anySimpleType' to allow for a variety of scalar datatypes.
Aproperty for constructing composite data structures
The property 'dtype:defaultValue' is a general property for specifying a value in situations where none is specified, or can be determined. In some cases of use, this property could have a scalar value and in other cases may need to refer to a first class concept that holds a 'value object'. For this reason, the type of this property is set as 'rdf:Property' and the property is rangeless.
A property for specifying a derivation relationship.
A property for specifying how member elements make up a data structure.
A general purpose property for holding string literals.
The property 'dtype:order' provides a means to specify a precedence. One use of order is in specifying ordered enumerations such as 'voag:ConfidentialityLevel'. A similar property, but with an important type difference, is 'vaem:orderIndex'. This is for use on property occurrences in class axioms where it can be placed on a restriction to specify how that property may be transformed into other representations where ordering has some importance, for example, in XML Schema sequences. Whereas 'vaem:order' is a datatype property, 'vaem:orderIndex' is an annotation property.
The property 'dtype:orderIndex' is an annotation property to specify a position that some value or structure will have. One use is to specify the place that a resource has in a sequence. One use is on property occurrences in class axioms. Here 'vaem:orderIndex' is placed on a restriction to specify how that property may be transformed into a representation where ordering has some importance, for example, in XML Schema sequences.
An indirection pointer for relating a slot in am occurrence data structure, such as 'dtype:ValueReference' with another resource.
The property 'dtype:value' is a general property that in some cases could have scalar values and in other cases may refer to a first class concept that is a 'value object'. For this reason, the type of this property is set as 'rdf:Property' and the property is rangeless.
An annotation property that can be freely used on any kind of resource. The range of the property is 'xsd:string'.
The property 'vaem:date' is intended for general use as the name implies. The range of the property is set as 'vaem:dateUnion' so as to allow a value to have a number of forms from a year only to a full timestamp. The property is also the parent of all dates so that queries can be made for any date on an ontology.
The property 'vaem:dateCreated' is intended for general use as the name implies. The range of the property is set as 'vaem:dateUnion' so as to allow a value to have a number of forms from a year only to a full timestamp.
The property 'vaem:description' is intended for general use as the name implies. Unlike 'rdfs:comment', 'vaem:description' is an 'owl:DatatypeProperty'. As such it can play a stronger role in the model, for example, as a predicate in an axiom.
The property 'lms:hasGraphRole' is used to characterize how a resource participates in an ontology set. The property is used to specify the role that a graph plays, for example, an ontology graph can be a schema, vocabulary, dataset, script, or ruleset.
A refinement of the subject resource. Modelled after rdfs:isDefinedBy for the purpose of referring to layered graphs that further define a subject.
The property 'vaem:lastUpdated' is intended for general use as the name implies. The range of the property is set as 'vaem:dateUnion' so as to allow a value to have a number of forms from a year only to a full timestamp.
The property 'vaem:name' is intended for general use. In many cases 'rdfs:label' could be used give names to resources. In the case where compliance with a specific naming rule is needed, 'vaem:name' allows a resource to carry a name that is used in more specific contexts. Making 'vaem:name' a sub-property of 'rdfs:label' allows 'vaem:name' to serve in the same way as an 'rdfs:label'.
The property 'vaem:namespace' provides a means to specify the onotlogy URI with which a graph is primarily associated. The intent is to allow multiple graphs to define statements for resources in the same Ontology namespace. For example, a foundation level graph with the base URI of 'http://www.somesite.com/1.0/schema/OurOntology' may define general concepts for 'OurOntology'. Another graph with the base URI 'http://www.somesite.com/1.0/schema/level2/OurOntology' may add more specific details to the same 'OurOntology'. Each of these two graphs would carry the same value for 'vaem:namespace', that is, 'http://www.somesite.com/schema/OurOntology'. In other words, an ontology URI is the URI associated with the resources of a controlled namespace. On the other hand the graph URIs (the base URIs) identify the graphs that hold resources that make up an ontology.
The property 'vaem:namespacePrefix' specifes a short handle or label for the URI of an Ontology. Multiple graphs can define statements for resources in the same Ontololgy namespace. For example, a foundation level graph with the base URI of 'http://www.somesite.com/1.0/schema/OurOntology' may define general concepts for 'OurOntology'. Another graph with the base URI 'http://www.somesite.com/1.0/schema/level2/OurOntology' may add more specific details to the same 'OurOntology'. Each of these two graphs would carry the same value for 'vaem:namespacePrefix', for this example, perhaps, 'ourOntology'.
The property 'vaem:ownedBy' is a general property that in some cases could have scalar values or may refer to some concept of 'Party'. For this reason, the type of this property is set as 'rdf:Property' and the property is rangeless. There are two sub-properties of 'vaem:ownedBy', namely 'vaem:owner' for string values and 'vaem:owningParty' for referencing a 'party'. Ownership applies to thos ontologies that are proprietary. Other governance and provenance specifications are held in the VOAG ontology.
The property 'vaem:owningParty' is used to refer to some concept of 'Party' and is a sub-property of 'vaem:ownedBy'.
To express how statements in a model can be reifiable, this property is used to explicitly associate a property with a user-defined sub-class of 'rdf:Statement'. A recommended way of using this is to declare the properties that share the same reification constructs as sub-properties of a parent property that carries the 'vaem:reifiableBy' property. The parent property should be of type 'rdf:Property' so that it can have both datatype and object properties as sub-properties. By this means use and transformations of a model can be understood through a fully specified metamodel. 'vaem:reifiableBy' is rangeless in order to comply with OWL DL semantics. Its range would have been rdfs:Class in order to refer to 'rdf:Statement' sub-classes.
The property 'vaem:releaseDate' is intended for general use as the name implies. The range of the property is set as 'vaem:dateUnion' so as to allow a value to have a number of forms from a year only to a full timestamp.
The property 'vaem:revision' is a property intended for general use as the name implies.
As it name implies, a way to attach an annotation about a 'todo' task
The property 'vaem:url' is intended for general use as the name implies. The range of the property is set as an XSD URI.
A property that is used to express dependencies on resources from graphs that are not imported.