function of
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.
quality 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.
organization — NFDI-MatWerk ontology design pattern
Hossein Beygi Nasrabadi, Jörg Waitelonis, Ebrahim Norouzi, Kostiantyn Hubaiev, Harald Sack. NFDI MatWerk Ontology (mwo). Revision: v3.0.1. Retrieved from: http://purls.helmholtz-metadaten.de/mwo/3.0.1
CC BY 4.0 (repository); CC0 1.0 declared in the ontology header
What is an organisation's ROR identifier, and in which city is it located?
Which organisation is the parent of a given institute?
Which organisations participate in NFDI-MatWerk?
Which researchers, instruments and facilities belong to a given organisation?
the organization tab of the NFDI-MatWerk curation workbook
Values become reusable and independently addressable, and one value may be shared by many entities. The cost: every `I` reference resolves by label, so labels must be unique and a typo yields a silently missing relation rather than an error.
To represent a organization in the MatWerk Knowledge Graph: its identity, the value nodes that describe it, and its links to the other entities the NFDI-MatWerk consortium records.
SELECT ?x ?label WHERE { ?x a <http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/OBI_0000245> ; <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#label> ?label } LIMIT 10
ROBOT template directives, row 2 of the organization tab
“Max Planck Institute for Iron Research” is a organization, with institution name “Max Planck Institute for Iron Research_name_”; city “Dusseldorf”; zip code “40237”.
has acronym
A relation between an entity and its abbreviated form, representing a shortened version of the original term or phrase.
process
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])
event
(Elucidation) p is a process means p is an occurrent that has some temporal proper part and for some time t, p has some material entity as participant
An act of selling; the life of an organism; a process of sleeping; a process of cell-division; a beating of the heart; a process of meiosis; the taxiing of an aircraft; the programming of a computer
object
(Elucidation) An object is a material entity which manifests causal unity & is of a type instances of which are maximal relative to the sort of causal unity manifested
An organism; a fish tank; a planet; a laptop; a valve; a block of marble; an ice cube
A description of three primary sorts of causal unity is provided in Basic Formal Ontology 2.0. Specification and User Guide
continuant fiat boundary
(Elucidation) A continuant fiat boundary b is an immaterial entity that is of zero, one or two dimensions & such that there is no time t when b has a spatial region as continuant part & whose location is determined in relation to some material entity
As for fiat point, fiat line, fiat surface
relational quality
b is a relational quality =Def b is a quality & there exists c and d such that c and d are not identical & b specifically depends on c & b specifically depends on d
A marriage bond; an instance of love; an obligation between one person and another
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).
based on Oxford English Dictionary
denotes
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.
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
denoted by
inverse of the relation 'denotes'
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
centrally registered identifier symbol
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.
Original proposal from Bjoern, discussions at IAO calls
centrally registered identifier registry
PubMed is a CRID registry. It has a code set of PubMed identifiers associated with journal articles.
A code set of CRID records, each consisting of a CRID symbol and additional information which was recorded in the code set through an assigning a centrally registered identifier process.
code set
An information content entity that is a collection of other information content entities that has been created to identify or annotate things in a specified domain, and where the intention of its creators is that the collection has a one-to-one correspondence with those things.
code map
code system
codeset
coding system
controlled vocabulary
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
role 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.
has disposition
a relation between an independent continuant (the bearer) and a disposition, in which the disposition specifically depends on the bearer for its existence
disposition 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
Most location relations will only hold at certain times, but this is difficult to specify in OWL. See http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ro/docs/temporal-semantics/
output of
Max Planck Institute for Iron Research_name_
person
An object that represents a single human individual.
2024-03-24. Sasha Bruns - the class is not mapped to NCBITaxon_9606 (homo sapiens) due to different scope of the ontologies. "Person" in nfdicore represents entities with specific roles, responsibilities, and attributes within an organization, and is not limited to its biological characteristics.
Harald Sack, Tabea Tietz, Sasha Bruns, Etienne Posthumus
city
A place that refers to a densely populated urban area.
A city or a town where the thing is located.
Berlin, Hannover, Kyiv
website
An information content entity that represents a collection of interconnected web pages, multimedia content, and digital resources accessible via the World Wide Web.
A collection of webpages contributed by an organization or a person.
postal code
An identifier that denotes some postal delivery route, some aggregate of postal delivery routes or a geographical region and was created for the purpose of sorting and delivering mail.
site
(Elucidation) A site is a three-dimensional immaterial entity whose boundaries either (partially or wholly) coincide with the boundaries of one or more material entities or have locations determined in relation to some material entity
A hole in a portion of cheese; a rabbit hole; the Grand Canyon; the Piazza San Marco; the kangaroo-joey-containing hole of a kangaroo pouch; your left nostril (a fiat part - the opening - of your left nasal cavity); the lumen of your gut; the hold of a ship; the interior of the trunk of your car; hole in an engineered floor joist
material entity
An independent continuant that is spatially extended whose identity is independent of that of other entities and can be maintained through time.
Elucidation: An independent continuant that is spatially extended whose identity is independent of that of other entities and can be maintained through time.
(Elucidation) A material entity is an independent continuant has some portion of matter as continuant part
A human being; the undetached arm of a human being; an aggregate of human beings
is about
This document is about information artifacts and their representations
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.
Smith, Ceusters, Ruttenberg, 2000 years of philosophy
institutional identification
University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine
A textual entity intended to identify a particular institution
centrally registered identifier
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.
organization
PMID: 16353909.AAPS J. 2005 Sep 22;7(2):E274-80. Review. The joint food and agriculture organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives and its role in the evaluation of the safety of veterinary drug residues in foods.
An entity that can bear roles, has members, and has a set of organization rules. Members of organizations are either organizations themselves or individual people. Members can bear specific organization member roles that are determined in the organization rules. The organization rules also determine how decisions are made on behalf of the organization by the organization members.
BP: The definition summarizes long email discussions on the OBI developer, roles, biomaterial and denrie branches. It leaves open if an organization is a material entity or a dependent continuant, as no consensus was reached on that. The current placement as material is therefore temporary, in order to move forward with development. Here is the entire email summary, on which the definition is based: 1) there are organization_member_roles (president, treasurer, branch editor), with individual persons as bearers 2) there are organization_roles (employer, owner, vendor, patent holder) 3) an organization has a charter / rules / bylaws, which specify what roles there are, how they should be realized, and how to modify the charter/rules/bylaws themselves. It is debatable what the organization itself is (some kind of dependent continuant or an aggregate of people). This also determines who/what the bearer of organization_roles' are. My personal favorite is still to define organization as a kind of 'legal entity', but thinking it through leads to all kinds of questions that are clearly outside the scope of OBI. Interestingly enough, it does not seem to matter much where we place organization itself, as long as we can subclass it (University, Corporation, Government Agency, Hospital), instantiate it (Affymetrix, NCBI, NIH, ISO, W3C, University of Oklahoma), and have it play roles. This leads to my proposal: We define organization through the statements 1 - 3 above, but without an 'is a' statement for now. We can leave it in its current place in the is_a hierarchy (material entity) or move it up to 'continuant'. We leave further clarifications to BFO, and close this issue for now.
has function
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 quality
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 output
p has output c iff c is a participant in p, c is present at the end of p, and c is not present in the same state at the beginning of p.
place
A site that refers to geographical locations, such as cities, countries, landmarks, and natural environments.
A spatial region, e.g. country, city or district.
Issue: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/75
country
A place that refers to a defined geographical area distinguished by its territorial boundaries, governance structure, and sovereignty.
A country where the thing is located.
creative process
A process that involves generating, developing, and refining original ideas or concepts through exploration, experimentation, and problem-solving, aiming to produce innovative or expressive outcomes in artistic, scientific, or other creative fields.
is subject of
ROR identifier
ROR (Research Organization Registry) is a global, open, and community-driven registry of research organizations. It provides unique identifiers for institutions involved in research, enabling better data integration, disambiguation, and interoperability across scholarly communication systems.
ROR
zone improvement plan code
A postal code that is used in the United States for the purpose of sorting and delivering mail, and that denotes some postal delivery route or some aggregate of postal delivery routes.
spatial region
(Elucidation) A spatial region is a continuant entity that is a continuant part of the spatial projection of a portion of spacetime at a given time
As for zero-dimensional spatial region, one-dimensional spatial region, two-dimensional spatial region, three-dimensional spatial region
disposition
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.
internally-grounded realizable entity
(Elucidation) A disposition b is a realizable entity such that if b 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
An atom of element X has the disposition to decay to an atom of element Y; the cell wall is disposed to transport cellular material through endocytosis and exocytosis; certain people have a predisposition to colon cancer; children are innately disposed to categorize objects in certain ways
realizable entity
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.
(Elucidation) A realizable entity is a specifically dependent continuant that inheres in some independent continuant which is not a spatial region & which is of a type some instances of which are realized in processes of a correlated type
The role of being a doctor; the role of this boundary to delineate where Utah and Colorado meet; the function of your reproductive organs; the disposition of your blood to coagulate; the disposition of this piece of metal to conduct electricity
function
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.
(Elucidation) A function is a disposition that exists in virtue of its bearer's physical make-up & 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 artefacts) in order to realize processes of a certain sort
The function of a hammer to drive in nails; the function of a heart pacemaker to regulate the beating of a heart through electricity
identifier
An information content entity that is the outcome of a dubbing process and is used to refer to one instance of entity shared by a group of people to refer to that individual entity.
proper name
agent
An independent continuant that acts autonomously and is entrusted with the authority to represent, negotiate, or act on behalf of another agent.
A class that represents entities that are capable of autonomous actions, decision-making, or interaction within a given environment, e.g. persons or organizations.
Torsten Schrade, Linnaea Söhn, Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz
role
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.
externally-grounded realizable entity
(Elucidation) A role b is a realizable entity such that 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
The priest role; the student role; the role of subject in a clinical trial; the role of a stone in marking a property boundary; the role of a boundary to demarcate two neighbouring administrative territories; the role of a building in serving as a military target
immaterial entity
b is an immaterial entity =Def b is an independent continuant which is such that there is no time t when it has a material entity as continuant part
As for fiat point, fiat line, fiat surface, site
characteristic of
this fragility is a characteristic of this vase
this red color is a characteristic of this apple
a relation between a specifically dependent continuant (the characteristic) and any other entity (the bearer), in which the characteristic depends on the bearer for its existence.
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.
agent role
Role of an independent continuant that is realized through an agent's actions, enabling the agent to perform specific functions or achieve particular outcomes within a system or context.
entity
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
(Elucidation) An entity is anything that exists or has existed or will exist
Julius Caesar; the Second World War; your body mass index; Verdi's Requiem
generically dependent continuant
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.
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])
g-dependent continuant
(Elucidation) A generically dependent continuant is an entity that exists in virtue of the fact that there is at least one of what may be multiple copies which is the content or the pattern that multiple copies would share
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; the content that is shared by a string of dots and dashes written on a page and the transmitted Morse code signal; the content of a sentence; an engineering blueprint
occurrent
An entity that has temporal parts and that happens, unfolds or develops through time.
(Elucidation) An occurrent is an entity that unfolds itself in time or it is the start or end of such an entity or it is a temporal or spatiotemporal region
As for process, history, process boundary, spatiotemporal region, zero-dimensional temporal region, one-dimensional temporal region, temporal interval, temporal instant.
quality
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
(Elucidation) 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
The colour of a tomato; the ambient temperature of this portion of air; the length of the circumference of your waist; the shape of your nose; the shape of your nostril; the mass of this piece of gold
specifically dependent continuant
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
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])
b is a specifically dependent continuant =Def b is a continuant & there is some independent continuant c which is not a spatial region & which is such that b specifically depends on c
(with multiple bearers) John's love for Mary; the ownership relation between John and this statue; the relation of authority between John and his subordinates
(with one bearer) The mass of this tomato; the pink colour of a medium rare piece of grilled filet mignon at its centre; the smell of this portion of mozzarella; the disposition of this fish to decay; the role of being a doctor; the function of this heart to pump blood; the shape of this hole
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.
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 http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ro/docs/temporal-semantics/
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
has role
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.
continuant
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
(Elucidation) A continuant is an entity that persists, endures, or continues to exist through time while maintaining its identity
A human being; a tennis ball; a cave; a region of space; someone's temperature
information content entity
Examples of information content entites include journal articles, data, graphical layouts, and graphs.
An information content entity is an entity that is generically dependent on some artifact and stands in relation of aboutness to some entity.
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.
has characteristic
this apple is bearer of this red color
this vase is bearer of this fragility
Inverse of characteristic_of
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.
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.
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
independent continuant
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
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])
b is an independent continuant =Def b is a continuant & there is no c such that b specifically depends on c or b generically depends on c
An atom; a molecule; an organism; a heart; a chair; the bottom right portion of a human torso; a leg; the interior of your mouth; a spatial region; an orchestra