Relational Ontology Research Articles

The craft of rock climbing: exploring the implications of relational ontologies for learning to rock climb

AbstractThis paper explores how relational ontologies challenge the conception of skill development in rock climbing. Using especially the concepts of Tim Ingold and Phil Mullins, the paper suggests that pro-environmental behaviours, and relationships to place, can be fostered by direct involvement in skills development. This ontology is at odds with dualistic approaches that see climbing and pro-environmental behaviours as tensioned concepts. It is also contrary to historic practice theories that see climbing development as deriving from mastering oneself and conquering the climb. The paper proposes that climbing can be better understood as a craft and that each climb can be seen as co-created by the correspondence between the climber and the rock. This approach challenges the anthropocentric concept of the climb as a challenge to be overcome by skill and human endeavour, and instead suggests that a perspective of climbing as a craft better recognises the shared agency of the assemblage of rock and climber. Consequently, the paper suggests that completed rock climbs can be seen as co-evolved expressions of knowledge and action, and thus that climbing skills and pro-environmental behaviours derive from a creative process of engagement with the solid reality of the rock.

Agricultural peer mentors for mental health support

ABSTRACT Stress and mental health challenges are common in the agricultural community, both in the United States and worldwide, especially in rural communities. We recruited farmers, ranchers, and allied agriculturalists across Hawaiʻi to serve as peer mental health mentors (ag mentors). Participation required 14 hours of training including Mental Health First Aid, Question Persuade Refer, internal online resources and webinars with local mental/behavioural health professionals. Thirty-four participants completed all trainings with statistically significant gains (p < .05) in knowledge of what is considered “good” mental health, and increases in confidence in detecting signs and symptoms of mental health challenges in oneself and others. Results also showed greater de-stigmatising attitudes about mental health, and more confidence with respect to providing options for assistance. Qualitative comments also highlighted enthusiastic endorsement of the program. The findings suggest an effective a community-based relational approach to addressing farmer mental health that is consistent with the Hawaiian value of ʻohana (family) and relational ontology.

Undisciplining the Museum: Indigenous Relationality as Religion

What does it mean to decolonize or undiscipline the anthropology museum? What happens when the museum is confronted by Indigenous and descendant communities who demand an ethic of care rooted in relational ontologies and epistemologies? This article features Indigenous creativity as it has disrupted ‘business as usual’ in anthropology museums. This is primarily evidenced by Fork Peck Tribes who confronted the University of Montana to enact a long-overdue repatriation. Additional examples from The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard demonstrate diverse expressions of relationality among Indigenous and descendant communities. These interventions are analyzed through Critical Indigenous Theory to specify the ways in which Indigenous religious traditions refuse the narratives and norms of settler colonial knowledge production and undermine the imperial museological practices of preservation. Instead, relationality is prioritized in the caretaking of and connection with more-than-human entities and materials in the museum. This article emphasizes relationality and repatriation as religious acts that challenge assumptions embedded in imperial and settler colonial approaches to history and science. From various social locations and through multiple strategies, we see the active undisciplining of the museum by Indigenous and descendant communities.

Parameter Identification and Energy Dissipation Analysis of Premium Connections Based on the Iwan Model

The premium connection is an important section of the tubing column. Under intricate downhole conditions, axial vibration generates alternating loads that cause energy dissipation between the sealing surfaces of the premium connection, reducing sealing performance. To investigate this issue, the mutual conversion process of sticking, slipping, and macroscopic slipping stages between the sealing surfaces of the premium connection under axial loads must be assessed. In this study, a finite element analysis model of a taper–taper Φ88.9 mm × 6.45 mm P110 premium connection is developed based on the discrete Iwan model’s ontological relationship, and the sealing surface’s force–displacement hysteresis curve is obtained. The equivalent Iwan model for this particular premium connection is constructed by discretizing the hysteresis curve and identifying the model’s four sets of parameters. The correctness of the parameter identification method of the equivalent Iwan model is verified by comparing and analyzing the similarity of the two models. The energy dissipation in the sealing surfaces of the premium connection for different working conditions under dynamic loading is analyzed. This study reveals that the area similarity of the hysteresis curves of the two models is more than 92%, while the positional error is less than 2%. The sealing surface displacement amplitude of the premium connection is between 0.04 mm and 0.07 mm, while the sealing surface energy dissipation increases linearly, which may lead to a decline in sealing performance.

Development of a Flexible Information Security Risk Model Using Machine Learning Methods and Ontologies

This paper presents a significant advancement in information security risk assessment by introducing a flexible and comprehensive model. The research integrates established standards, expert knowledge, machine learning, and ontological modeling to create a multifaceted approach for understanding and managing information security risks. The combination of standards and expert insights forms a robust foundation, ensuring a holistic grasp of the intricate risk landscape. The use of cluster analysis, specifically applying k-means on information security standards, expands the data-driven approach, uncovering patterns not discernible through traditional methods. The integration of machine learning algorithms in the creation of information security risk dendrogram demonstrates effective computational techniques for enhanced risk discovery. The introduction of a heat map as a visualization tool adds innovation, facilitating an intuitive understanding of risk interconnections and prioritization for decision makers. Additionally, a thesaurus optimizes risk descriptions, ensuring comprehensiveness and relevance despite evolving terminologies in the dynamic field of information security. The development of an ontological model for structured risk classification is a significant stride forward, offering an effective means of categorizing information security risks based on ontological relationships. These collective innovations enhance understanding and management of information security risks, paving the way for more effective approaches in the ever-evolving technological landscape.

Nonlinear resonance of fractional order viscoelastic PET films under temperature loading

The effects of oven temperature during printing on nonlinear vibration for fractional-order PET films are considered in this paper. The effect of temperature, fractional order modelling and some other parameters are analysed with respect to the response of the resonance. Fractional order kelvin-Voigt ontological relationship is used to describe the characteristics of viscoelastic materials. The differential equations for nonlinear vibrations are inferred according to the second law of Newton and the theory of von Karman. Discretization for nonlinear equations on locomotion using the Bubnov–Galerkin method. Forced co-oscillatory amplitude-frequency response equations for thin-films systems under temperature loading were calculated using the multiple scales method. Results of numeral results show that temperature, and fractional-order visco-elastic modelling influence the membrane's response to resonance. These results provide a basis for studying fractional-order visco-elastic films vibrations and identifying regions of stable operation in moving systems to prevent divergent instabilities for flexible electronic device manufacturing.

On the political ontology of making things up in political ecology critique: Responding to Bormpoudakis (2019) and Knudsen (2023)

I engage with two recent articles published in the Journal of Political Ecology, both of which critique political ecology engagements with ontological and epistemological complexities. These complexities might be distilled into the idea that how 'the world' is socially known also shapes how the world is known to be. I explore three key issues worked through in these papers, partly with reference to work of mine, namely: 1) conservation struggles around biodiversity offsetting; 2) debates regarding plural and relational ontologies, particularly representations of 'flatness' and 'depth' in ontological considerations; and 3) critical realism, specifically distinctions between perspectives on transitive and intransitive dimensions in qualifying understandings of reality. I highlight a pernicious problem of dismissive approaches towards analysts trying to ask difficult and subtle questions about 'onto-epistemology.' This situation seems surprising given the effort in political ecology towards recognising and respecting plural knowledges, particularly knowledges often overridden by discourses emboldened by structures of power. My overall aim is towards clarity in ongoing political ecology debate on these issues, alongside the pursuit of respectful praxis in this burgeoning area of engagement.

Bodies and learning trajectories: a ‘post’ feminist approach to the experience of Spanish students in higher education

ABSTRACT Feminist theories have broadly delved into the discourse surrounding bodies (Grosz, Elizabeth. 1994. Volatile Bodies: Toward a Corporeal Feminism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press). Their contributions have subverted the idea that bodies are merely passive matter, opening up new ways of conceptualizing the world in corporeal terms. Their insights have been useful in understanding that human bodies emerge in situated-historical encounters, and cannot be separated from mind. This holds significant implications for the field of education (hooks, bell. 1994. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Abingdon: Routledge). In this article, we depart from the project ‘TRAY-AP: Learning trajectories of undergraduate students: conceptions, strategies, technologies, and contexts'. Reading from ‘posts’ perspectives such as feminist new materialisms, the affective turn or posthumanisms, helps us to think through relational ontologies, beyond dualisms, embracing a commitment to the human and morethan-human bodies. Through these perspectives, the project helps us to deepen into how Spanish higher education students conceive their bodies and the role of bodies in their learning trajectories. The paper concludes by shedding light on how bodies are still considered inert beings, but students see their learning processes as corporeal and embodied, intersected by gender struggles.

‘Let's Go to the Land Instead’: Indigenous Perspectives on Biodiversity and the Possibilities of Regenerative Capital

AbstractThe land has been a source of capital accumulation since colonization through extractive activities like mining and industrial agriculture. Indigenous peoples have profoundly different relationships with the land, which are more relational than extractive. However, their knowledge has been subjugated by and systematically excluded from Western conservation policies, which are based on colonial modes of control. We begin to address this issue by elaborating on a community‐based participatory project, namely a Conservation Impact Bond (CIB), developed in Canada with Deshkan Ziibiing. This CIB was unique since it combined Indigenous and Western knowledges and aimed at restoring ecosystems by building relationships of kinship between peoples and the land. Based on our findings, we propose a Two‐Eyed Seeing relationship‐building process model – a multi‐stakeholder initiative (MSI) incorporating Indigenous and Western knowledges. We discuss the implications of our findings for mobilizing capital to serve collective rather than private interests while promoting Indigenous resurgence and land regeneration. We suggest shifting from extractive to regenerative capital is necessary to address the climate and biodiversity loss crises. This transformation could be achieved by embracing a relational ontology through Two‐Eyed Seeing.

The Decay-Life of Things

AbstractExamining the graveside tributes left at Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, this article considers the meaning-making work of decay. Green-Wood is a polysemous place, existing as a historical and active cemetery, an arboretum, an arts and performance space, a space of mourning, and a place of leisurely strolling and birdwatching. Through a site-specific analysis of the cemetery, I approach decay as an active and durational phase of material life and explore different decay-temporalities through the tributes left graveside. I argue that orienting ourselves to the decay-life of things necessarily entangles us in a larger ecological ethic and relational ontology of self, land, weather, animals (human and non-human), and time. While advocating for material attention to decay-life, I consider how the aesthetics and taboos of decay shape the cemetery’s relationship to visible and invisible rot and ruin. The cemetery staff, wildlife, visitors, ecology, climate, and the dead create a complex network of active actors experiencing and altering the material decay-life of the left-behind natural and artificial material tributes. Together, this active and entangled decay-life of the site forms a network of temporalities of decay that co-construct the affective and environmental space of the cemetery.

Impact of Agricultural Ontologies Evolution on the Alignment Preservative Adaptation

Ontology matching techniques are a solution to surmount the problem of interoperability on the fly between ontologies. However, both alignments and ontologies are likely to be evolved throughout their life cycle, which frequently degrades their qualities. One of the main features of an alignment is its conservativity, so that it should never generate new knowledge compared to those generated by reasoning solely on ontologies. We focus in this paper on the issue of adapting the fresh alignment between evolved OWL-2 ontologies while respecting the conservativity principle. We also propose several patterns to deal with the problem of detection and repair of conservativity breaches during such evolution depending on the type of change in the related OWL-2 ontologies. We use famous ontologies from the field of agriculture to validate our experimentation. At the end we present a set of open research issues.

Model-based safety analysis of requirement specifications

Model-based design primarily aims to establish a communication framework throughout a system’s design. Moreover, models with formal semantics allow verification based on rigorous methods, including the analysis of system safety. However, building formal models is a tedious manual process and cannot be easily applied to real problems.A key gap that hinders automation of model development is that there is no systematic way to connect system requirements with the activity of model-based design. In this article, we introduce a workflow to tackle this gap and ultimately automate the analysis of system safety using formal methods.We extend our previous work on boilerplate-based specification of system requirements with ontological semantics towards specifying FDIR (Failure, Detection, Isolation, Recovery) requirements. The workflow is centered around the automated generation of a model skeleton in SLIM, a component-based formal modeling language, from a set of ontology-based requirement specifications. Our approach has been implemented into a dedicated tool, which not only provides visualization of the ontology relations, but also supports traceability of the analysis findings back to the requirements specification. Finally, we provide results on the safety analysis of a real star-tracker system based on a SLIM model derived by minimally changing the auto-generated model skeleton.

Adorno on objects: towards an inclusive social theory

ABSTRACT In this paper, we draw insights from Theodor W. Adorno’s views on objects to demonstrate the relevance of the subject-object-oriented model of social theory. By engaging closely with his notion of the ‘preponderance of the object’, we develop an account of social ontology that blends substantial, relational, and processual ontologies. We highlight the usefulness of Adorno’s social ontology in addressing contemporary social concerns related to subject-object relations, such as the reification of consciousness and objectification. Furthermore, we emphasize its significance in light of distorted subject-object relations. Considering these aspects, we argue that subject-object oriented social theory is more inclusive and relevant than the intersubjective model that emerged after the linguistic turn in Critical Theory.

National schools of diplomatic training: divergences in the global epistemology of international relations

The proposition of establishing “global international relations” (Global IR) as an amalgamation of diverse national epistemologies in the field of international relations, potentially superseding the Western-centric paradigm, presents significant challenges. A critical inquiry emerges: Is it possible to form a discipline based on the polyphony of national approaches, despite the fact that the ontology of international relations has remained fundamentally unchanged since the mid-17th century? This study evaluates the thesis of extant national epistemologies in international relations by examining national traditions of diplomatic training. The primary research question is formulated as follows: What are the foundational approaches employed by leading states in the training of IR specialists, and can these approaches be considered reflective of national epistemologies regarding the nature of international relations? The research methodology involves a synthesis of findings from an examination of diplomatic training institutions across a diverse sample of countries. This sample encompasses Western nations (United Kingdom, Hungary, Poland, United States, Finland, France, and Germany), Asian countries (Vietnam, Indonesia, India, China, and the Republic of Korea), Middle Eastern states (Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey), African nations (Nigeria and South Africa), and Latin American countries (Brazil, Mexico, and Cuba). The article is structured in two principal sections. The theoretical section explores the hypothesis of “global international relations” within the context of existing literature and theoretical frameworks. The second section synthesizes the empirical findings from the study of national approaches to diplomatic training, testing the hypothesis of its correlation with national epistemologies in the field of international relations.

Plant Agency in the Guianas: Attraction, Assault, and Animacy

This article uses ethnographic and ethnobotanical methods to examine relationships between animate and agentive plants and human beings among the Makushi, Pemon, Karinya, and other Indigenous and mixed-Indigenous peoples in the Guianas. It considers representations of these plants and related ontologies in the archival record and contrasts these accounts with more recent ethnographic descriptions based on the authors’ fieldwork across Guyana and Venezuela. It thinks about these plants as agentive beings (with regard to animist ontologies and sometimes physical properties) within a variety of contexts. Today, the territories of these Indigenous peoples tessellate with extractive frontiers, which center around gold, diamond, and bauxite mining, as well as oil prospecting, forestry, and plantation agriculture. In this context, these plants emerge as active and animate agents. They also emerge as such agents in contexts of subsistence, shamanism, and assault sorcery, as well as sexual and romantic attraction, which can act with or without human impetus. The question arises as to the nature of the relationships between such plants and their users, for example, shamans ( piaimen), assault sorcerers ( kanaima), hunters, gardeners, and miners, within a variety of contexts. Based on the authors’ long-term fieldwork, the article examines animate plants and argues that they evince special botanical agencies among the Indigenous communities with whom the authors have worked in the Guianas. How are animate plants positioned within these practices and contexts? And how do they exert agency therein as plant persons?

Relational Ontology in the Mapuche Thinking: Possibilities for Indigenous Well-Being Amidst Colonial Settings

The imposition of a colonial mindset over indigenous peoples and their relational understanding of life is a common experience in the Global South. Forced displacement and subordination are also part of history in which cultural manners to preserve balance with the environment were severely altered. This article delves into the case of the Mapuche people, an indigenous group from Latin America that faces old and new expressions of colonialism. Because of structural discrimination, the health outcomes of the Mapuche people have been affected, including mental health. In this scenario, intercultural health experiences have been implemented to address the needs of the Mapuche population. Intercultural health policy emerges as an arena in which indigenous understanding of well-being is once again subjugated. From the author’s indigenous position, possibilities for well-being come through the negotiation of meanings and power that complicate indigenous life in colonial settings. Moreover, the subalternization of indigenous perspectives within scientific spaces is acknowledged as an obstacle to achieving horizontality in academic networks and to constructing meaningful interventions.

Pathways Through the Sea: Decolonial Geopoetics of the Mediterranean in Italian Folksong

Extending and connecting scholarship on decolonial geopoetics, critical Mediterraneanism and maritime (wet and more-than-wet) ontologies, this paper discusses Genoese folksinger Fabrizio De André’s political, poetical, and geographical work on the Mediterranean Sea. De André has been considered as a pioneer of “World Music” for his linguistic and historical research on sounds and stories of the Mediterranean. Yet, a socially and politically committed intellectual, De André fostered agendas that went well beyond the role that this author played in the history of Italian and international folksong, and should interest scholars in geography, geopolitics and geopoetics. Exploring his original texts and recollections, I argue that De André’s works open ways to connect critical studies on the Mediterranean to broader scholarship on decoloniality and relational ontologies. This emerges especially through his commitment to challenge cultural and linguistic borders, listening to “histories from below” and denouncing the colonial violence of states and other oppressive powers in North-South Mediterranean relations. Furthermore, De André’s geopoetics fosters ideas of Mediterranean entanglements between land and sea that challenge statist territorialities, enhancing different geopoetic and geopolitical imaginations to address current matters on migration, racism and exclusion.

“I’m trying to take the lead from my child”: experiences Parenting Young Nonbinary Children

BackgroundWhile research has emphasized the importance of parental support for LGBTQIA + youth wellbeing, there remains limited understanding of parental experiences with nonbinary children, particularly those prepubescent. This study aimed to explore how parents of nonbinary children ages 5–8 learn to support their child’s identity, examining initial reactions, emotional processes, supportive behaviors, societal responses, and associated challenges and rewards.MethodsA qualitative study was conducted using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) within a framework of ontological relativism and epistemological constructivism. Nine parents of nonbinary children aged 5–8 from the Northeastern United States participated in semi-structured interviews lasting 60–80 min. Questions explored various aspects of parenting nonbinary children, including the child’s gender identity, parental feelings, experiences sharing the child’s identity, and challenges and rewards of raising a gender-diverse child. The research team, comprising individuals who identify as trans, genderqueer, and nonbinary, employed collaborative coding and thematic development.ResultsFour main themes were constructed: (1) Parents hear and support their child’s nonbinary identity, this theme highlights immediate acceptance and efforts parents make to affirm their child’s gender; (2) Parents learn about ways cisnormative society harms their child, here, parents recognize the societal pressures and barriers their children face; (3) Parents take significant and proactive steps to affirm their child, this theme documents the actions parents take to support their child in environments that invalidate their identity; and (4) Gender is just one aspect of who my child is, this theme reflects on parental insights of gender as just one part of their child’s overall personhood.ConclusionsThis study provides insights into the experiences of parents supporting young nonbinary children, emphasizing the importance of affirming expressed identity, the parent-child relationship, and proactive support in navigating cisnormative societal structures. Findings highlight the transformative experience of parenting nonbinary children, with parents often challenging their own preconceptions of gender and coming to more nuanced understandings. These results can inform supportive interventions and policies for nonbinary children and their families, and we hope to contribute to a growing body of research that shifts narratives towards joy, resilience, and community in trans and nonbinary experiences.

QIGTD: identifying critical genes in the evolution of lung adenocarcinoma with tensor decomposition

BackgroundIdentifying critical genes is important for understanding the pathogenesis of complex diseases. Traditional studies typically comparing the change of biomecules between normal and disease samples or detecting important vertices from a single static biomolecular network, which often overlook the dynamic changes that occur between different disease stages. However, investigating temporal changes in biomolecular networks and identifying critical genes is critical for understanding the occurrence and development of diseases.MethodsA novel method called Quantifying Importance of Genes with Tensor Decomposition (QIGTD) was proposed in this study. It first constructs a time series network by integrating both the intra and inter temporal network information, which preserving connections between networks at adjacent stages according to the local similarities. A tensor is employed to describe the connections of this time series network, and a 3-order tensor decomposition method was proposed to capture both the topological information of each network snapshot and the time series characteristics of the whole network. QIGTD is also a learning-free and efficient method that can be applied to datasets with a small number of samples.ResultsThe effectiveness of QIGTD was evaluated using lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) datasets and three state-of-the-art methods: T-degree, T-closeness, and T-betweenness were employed as benchmark methods. Numerical experimental results demonstrate that QIGTD outperforms these methods in terms of the indices of both precision and mAP. Notably, out of the top 50 genes, 29 have been verified to be highly related to LUAD according to the DisGeNET Database, and 36 are significantly enriched in LUAD related Gene Ontology (GO) terms, including nuclear division, mitotic nuclear division, chromosome segregation, organelle fission, and mitotic sister chromatid segregation.ConclusionIn conclusion, QIGTD effectively captures the temporal changes in gene networks and identifies critical genes. It provides a valuable tool for studying temporal dynamics in biological networks and can aid in understanding the underlying mechanisms of diseases such as LUAD.

Projections on (re)designing pedagogical pathways towards decolonial praxis in postgraduate literacy education

What would it mean to teach a postgraduate course about literacy education in South Africa in a way attuned to place, bodies, ways of being, and decolonial knowledge making? In this paper, we engage with this question through reflections and projections on our ongoing work of curriculum re-design of a master’s level course on literacy theories. This course, which we have taught three times since 2018, seeks to place the existing theoretical architecture of sociocultural literacy under pressure, asking whether these various frameworks still hold relevance for literacy education in South Africa in this post-Fallist and, more recently, post-Covid-19 reality. In each iteration of the course, we have invited students to think together with us about how literacy education in the Global South might respond to the opposing forces of globalisation and decolonisation. Yet, each time, the course has flowed differently as the configuration of bodies, identities, languages, knowledges, dispositions, affects, and materialities of learning mode has changed year by year. We aim to map the pedagogical pathways, in the sense of “configurations that guide the constraints and potentialities shaping the movement of pedagogy” (Madden, 2015:2) of the course. We draw on decolonial theory and transhumanist ideas of relational ontologies to explore selected incidents when significant discursive, affective, institutional, and material elements crystallised into patterns revealing of the ways in which coloniality can be either reproduced or challenged within our particular context. Emerging insights relate to assessment issues, multimodal tasks, article selection, and student reflections across time, and gesture towards a decolonial praxis. We conclude by projecting the lessons learned into the course’s future redesign.