Example 6: Situations

1. Quality value attribution: a value that changes

Rather than a single gufo:hasQualityValue assertion (as in example 3, for a quality that does not change), each value Nora's weight has taken becomes its own situation:

:NoraWeighs82KgIn2023 a gufo:QualityValueAttributionSituation ;
    gufo:concernsQualityType :Weight ;
    gufo:concernsQualityValue "82.0"^^xsd:double ;
    gufo:hasBeginPointInXSDDate "2023-01-10"^^xsd:date ;
    gufo:hasEndPointInXSDDate "2023-06-30"^^xsd:date .

:NoraWeighs75KgIn2024 a gufo:QualityValueAttributionSituation ;
    gufo:concernsQualityType :Weight ;
    gufo:concernsQualityValue "75.0"^^xsd:double ;
    gufo:hasBeginPointInXSDDate "2024-01-15"^^xsd:date .

:Nora gufo:standsInQualifiedAttribution :NoraWeighs82KgIn2023 , :NoraWeighs75KgIn2024 .

:Weight here is just a plain subclass of gufo:Quality, used as the object of gufo:concernsQualityType -- note this is a different use of "Weight" than instantiating it with a reified quality individual (as Gemstone1Mass was in example 3): here the class itself is what is pointed to, since gufo:concernsQualityType's range is gufo:EndurantType, not gufo:Quality. This is OWL 2 punning again -- the same mechanism used throughout example 1 and example 7, except here it happens implicitly: simply using :Weight as the object of a property whose range is gufo:EndurantType is enough for a reasoner to type it accordingly, without an explicit :Weight a gufo:Kind triple.

2. Temporary instantiation: a phase held for a while

Instead of a plain, tenseless :Nora a :OverweightPerson, the period during which the phase applied is recorded explicitly:

:NoraWasOverweightUntilJune2023 a gufo:TemporaryInstantiationSituation ;
    gufo:concernsNonRigidType :OverweightPerson ;
    gufo:hasBeginPointInXSDDate "2020-03-01"^^xsd:date ;
    gufo:hasEndPointInXSDDate "2023-06-30"^^xsd:date .

:Nora gufo:standsInQualifiedInstantiation :NoraWasOverweightUntilJune2023 .

Note the end date lines up with when her weight (tracked above) drops below the overweight threshold -- the two situations are about the same change in the world, recorded from two different angles (a quality's value, and a phase's applicability).

3. Temporary parthood: a heart transplant, and what caused it

A part that can be swapped out -- like a heart, once transplant surgery exists -- should not be linked to its whole with a plain gufo:isComponentOf assertion (which example 2 used for a car's engine, treating the link as essentially permanent). Instead, each parthood episode is its own situation:

:NoraHadNativeHeart a gufo:TemporaryParthoodSituation ;
    gufo:concernsTemporaryWhole :Nora ;
    gufo:hasEndPointInXSDDate "2024-03-05"^^xsd:date .
:NoraNativeHeart gufo:standsInQualifiedParthood :NoraHadNativeHeart .

:NoraHasDonorHeart a gufo:TemporaryParthoodSituation ;
    gufo:concernsTemporaryWhole :Nora ;
    gufo:hasBeginPointInXSDDate "2024-03-05"^^xsd:date .
:DonorHeart881 gufo:standsInQualifiedParthood :NoraHasDonorHeart .

What caused the second situation to start? The surgery itself, and gUFO has a property just for "an event brought this situation about":

:NoraHeartTransplant20240305 a :HeartTransplantSurgery ;
    gufo:hasBeginPointInXSDDate "2024-03-05"^^xsd:date ;
    gufo:broughtAbout :NoraHasDonorHeart .

4. Temporary constitution: same crown, different material

Nora's dental crown keeps its identity across a repair, even though what it is made of changes -- exactly the kind of case gufo:TemporaryConstitutionSituation is for (mirroring the Venus de Milo example in the gUFO usage guide, which loses its arms without losing its identity):

:NoraCrownWasPorcelain a gufo:TemporaryConstitutionSituation ;
    gufo:concernsConstitutedEndurant :NoraCrown ;
    gufo:hasEndPointInXSDDate "2022-11-20"^^xsd:date .
:OriginalPorcelainBatch gufo:standsInQualifiedConstitution :NoraCrownWasPorcelain .

:NoraCrownIsResin a gufo:TemporaryConstitutionSituation ;
    gufo:concernsConstitutedEndurant :NoraCrown ;
    gufo:hasBeginPointInXSDDate "2022-11-21"^^xsd:date .
:ReplacementResinBatch gufo:standsInQualifiedConstitution :NoraCrownIsResin .

5. Temporary relationship: a comparison that can flip

Finally, a relationship between two patients that depends on a quality that changes -- "heavier than" -- is qualified the same way, with the relationship type itself declared a gufo:ComparativeRelationshipType derived from the Weight quality, exactly as the usage guide recommends:

:heavierThan a owl:ObjectProperty , gufo:ComparativeRelationshipType ;
    rdfs:domain :Patient ; rdfs:range :Patient ;
    gufo:isDerivedFrom :Weight .

:NoraHeavierThanMiguelOn20240115 a gufo:TemporaryRelationshipSituation ;
    gufo:concernsRelationshipType :heavierThan ;
    :concernsLighterPatient :Miguel ;
    gufo:hasBeginPointInXSDDate "2024-01-15"^^xsd:date ;
    gufo:hasEndPointInXSDDate "2024-01-15"^^xsd:date .

:Nora :standsAsHeavierPatient :NoraHeavierThanMiguelOn20240115 .

Bonus: a weaker link, gufo:contributedToTrigger

gufo:broughtAbout (step 3) links an event to a situation it is sufficient to explain. Sometimes a situation only plays a part in causing an event, without being sufficient on its own -- gUFO's gufo:contributedToTrigger is for that weaker claim, going the other direction (situation → event):

:NoraWasFebrileOnAdmission a gufo:TemporaryInstantiationSituation ;
    gufo:concernsNonRigidType :FebrilePatient ;
    gufo:hasBeginPointInXSDDateTimeStamp "2024-02-02T08:00:00Z"^^xsd:dateTimeStamp ;
    gufo:hasEndPointInXSDDateTimeStamp "2024-02-02T14:00:00Z"^^xsd:dateTimeStamp ;
    gufo:contributedToTrigger :SepsisAlert20240202 .

Nora's fever, by itself, does not guarantee the alert fires (other vitals matter too) -- it merely contributed. This mirrors example 5's gufo:historicallyDependsOn, but at the situation, rather than event-to-event, level.