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Table of Contents: 2013 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER No. 395

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MEDLINE Data Changes — 2014

Tybaert S. MEDLINE Data Changes — 2014. NLM Tech Bull. 2013 Nov-Dec;(395):e6.

2013 December 04 [posted]
2013 December 30 [Editor's note added]
2014 June 09 [Editor's note added]
Other pertinent articles:

What's New for 2014 MeSH

Newly Maintained MEDLINE for 2014 MeSH Now Available in PubMed

dotMEDLINE Data Changes — 2014

Cataloging News — 2014

2014 MeSH Now Available

MEDLINE/PubMed Year-End Processing Activities

This article collects the notable data changes made to MEDLINE during annual National Library of Medicine (NLM) maintenance known as Year-End Processing (YEP) for 2014.

For information about how this maintenance affects the NLM schedule for adding indexed MEDLINE citations to PubMed, see the article, MEDLINE/PubMed Year-End Processing Activities. Two additional resources, Annual MEDLINE/PubMed Year-End Processing (YEP): Impact on Searching During Fall 2013 and Annual MEDLINE/PubMed Year-End Processing (YEP): Background Information, include examples of typical changes that take place in MEDLINE citations during YEP.

MeSH Vocabulary Updated for 2014

The MeSH Browser currently points to the 2014 MeSH vocabulary with a link to the 2013 MeSH Vocabulary. Searchers should consult the Browser to find MeSH headings of interest and their relationships to other headings. The Browser contains MeSH Heading records that may include scope notes, annotations, entry terms, history notes, allowable qualifiers (subheadings), previous headings and other information. It also includes Subheading records and Supplementary Concept Records (SCRs) for substances and diseases that are not MeSH Headings.

The MeSH Section homepage provides a link under "All About MeSH" to the Introduction of 2014 MeSH and under "Obtaining MeSH" to download electronic versions.

The MeSH Tree Structures are also available online in both PDF and HTML formats with all indented terms showing.

For highlights about 2014 MeSH, see the forthcoming article, What's New for 2014 MeSH.

The PubMed MeSH database and translation tables will be updated to reflect 2014 MeSH in mid-December when YEP activities are complete and the newly maintained MEDLINE data are available in PubMed.

Updated MeSH in MEDLINE Citations

MEDLINE records with updated MeSH will be in PubMed in mid-December 2013. See "Modifying a Saved Search Strategy" for details on revising My NCBI saved searches.

[Editor's note: added June 9, 2014: MEDLINE citation maintenance XML files are no longer available for download.]
The MeSH Section homepage provides links to descriptions of MeSH maintenance. The About Updates link under the "MEDLINE Citation Maintenance" section explains how NLM prepares the changes in a machine-readable form for others to use. To access the XML files for the tasks processed for this maintenance, click on the "Download XML Files" link under this same section; the 2014 changes should be available sometime in January 2014. This information is helpful for those individuals or organizations using MeSH headings in their own application (such as indexing curricula guides) and want to update those applications with the new version of MeSH.

New MeSH Headings

304 new MeSH Headings were added to MeSH in 2014.

Typically, NLM does not retrospectively re-index MEDLINE citations with new MeSH Heading concepts. Therefore, searching PubMed for a new MeSH term tagged with [mh] or [majr] effectively limits retrieval to citations indexed after the term was introduced. PubMed Automatic Term Mapping (ATM) expands an untagged subject search to include both MeSH Terms and All Fields index terms and may retrieve relevant citations indexed before the introduction of a new MeSH term. Searchers may consult the MeSH Browser or the MeSH database to see the Previous Indexing terms most likely used for a particular concept before the new MeSH Heading was introduced.

Changes to MeSH Headings

This year 48 MeSH Headings were either changed or deleted and replaced with more up-to-date terminology. During YEP, NLM updates MeSH headings on MEDLINE citations.

Brand New Concepts

Examples of new MeSH headings of special interest to searchers are highlighted below by Category. You can browse all of the new 2014 concepts on the MeSH New Descriptors Web page.

Category A - Anatomy
Allografts
Autografts
Back Muscles
Bone-Patellar Tendon-Bone Grafts
Composite Tissue Allografts
Dander
Heterografts
Intermediate Back Muscles
Isografts
Paraspinal Muscles
Superficial Back Muscles
Category B - Organisms
Cephalochordata
Influenza A Virus, H7N9 Subtype
Lancelets
Category C – Diseases
Ankle Fractures
Carcinogenesis
Chemically-Induced Disorders
Chemotherapy-Induced Febrile Neutropenia
Dandruff
Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions
Febrile Neutropenia
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Myalgia
Pediatric Obesity
Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant
Scorpion Stings
Teratogenesis
Tick Bites
Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms
Category D - Chemicals and Drugs
Ammonium Compounds
Biodegradable Plastics
Biological Products
Filamins
Gasotransmitters
Hand Sanitizers
Medical Marijuana
Minichromosome Maintenance Proteins
Minichromosome Maintenance Complex Component 2
Minichromosome Maintenance Complex Component 3
Minichromosome Maintenance Complex Component 4
Minichromosome Maintenance Complex Component 5
Minichromosome Maintenance Complex Component 6
Minichromosome Maintenance Complex Component 7
Minichromosome Maintenance Complex Component 8
Minichromosome Maintenance Complex Component 9
Multifunctional Enzymes
Non-Nutritive Sweeteners
Nutritive Sweeteners
Category E - Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment
Alveolar Bone Grafting
Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy
Hand Transplantation
Multimodal Imaging
Papanicolaou Test
Polypharmacology
Therapy, Soft Tissue
Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation
Category F - Psychiatry and Psychology
Hope
Type B Personality
Type D Personality
Category G - Phenomena and Processes
Cool-Down Exercise (ET: Warm-Down Exercise)
Immunity, Heterologous
Microbiota
Organogenesis, Plant
Physical Conditioning, Human
Portion Size
Secondary Metabolism
Serving Size
Warm-Up Exercise
Category H - Disciplines and Occupations
Veterinary Sports Medicine
Category I - Anthropology, Education, Sociology and Social Phenomena
Drug Trafficking
Human Trafficking (ET: Sex Trafficking)
Identity Theft
Medical Identity Theft
Organ Trafficking
Prenatal Education
Slavery
Sports for Persons with Disabilities
Category K - Humanities
Influenza Pandemic, 1918-1919
Category L - Information Science
Biological Ontologies
Gene Ontology (ET: Gene Ontology Project)
Mobile Applications
Web Browser
Category M - Named Groups
Disaster Victims
Family Nurse Practitioners
Healthy Volunteers
Nurses, Community Health
Nurses, International
Nurses, Public Health
Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
Prisoners of War
Slaves
Category N - Health Care
Critical Care Nursing
Home Health Nursing
Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing
Parish Nursing
Preexisting Condition Coverage
Nocebo Effect
Patient Harm
Rural Nursing
Safety-net Providers
Senior Centers
Category V – Publication Characteristics
Dataset
Observational Study
Pragmatic Clinical Trial
Category Z – Geographicals
Asia, Northern
Mesopotamia

Changes of particular interest include:

  • In 2013 Ammonium Compounds and Ammonium were Entry Terms to Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; however, in 2014 Ammonium Compounds became a MeSH Heading and Ammonium is an Entry Term to this new heading.
  • Biological Agents was replaced by Biological Products and Biological Agents is now an Entry Term for the MeSH Heading Biological Factors.
  • A number of trees in Category D were refined.
  • In 2013 the MeSH Heading Education had an Entry Term of Parenting Education. In 2014 this Entry Term was moved to a different MeSH Heading, "Education, Nonprofessional."
  • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome was a MeSH Heading in 2013, but in 2014 it became an Entry Term to the new MeSH Heading, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
  • Heterograft was an Entry Term to Transplantation, Heterologous [E04.936.764] but is now promoted to a MeSH Heading in Category A under Transplants [A01.941].
  • Microbiota was an Entry Term to Metagenome treed under Genome in Category G. In 2014 it became a MeSH Heading and is treed both under Category G and Category N.
  • The Entry Term Papanicolaou Test for Vaginal Smears in 2013 MeSH has been promoted to a MeSH Heading in 2014.
  • Slaves was an Entry Term in 2013 for the MeSH Heading, Social Problems, in Category I. In 2014 Slavery became a new MeSH Heading and was moved to Category M.
  • Tissue Therapy, Historical replaces Tissue Therapy. The replaced term is more specific; follow-on tasks will insure that Tissue Therapy, Historical is used only for articles related to the procedures by Filatov or Niehans. Users should use Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy to retrieve articles for contemporary cell or tissue therapy.
  • Transplant and Transplantation terms were reviewed and changes were made to treeing and subheadings, plus a few new terms were added. For example Transplants was moved from Category E7 to Category A.
  • The Entry Term Tumorigenesis for Cell Transformation, Neoplastic has been moved and is now an Entry Term under Carcinogenesis.

Do not confuse:

  • Home Health Nursing with Home Nursing.
  • Immunity, Heterologous with Cross Protection or Cross Reactions.
  • Multifunctional Enzymes with Multienzyme Complexes.
  • Polypharmacology with Polypharmacy; Pharmacology; or Polychemotherapy.
  • Secondary Metabolism with Secondary Metabolites.
  • Teratogenesis with Teratoma.
  • Therapy, Soft Tissue with Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy.
  • Warm-Down Exercise (an Entry Term for Cool-Down Exercise) with Warm-Up Exercise, a new 2014 MeSH Heading.

In addition to changes and deletions of MeSH terms on MEDLINE citations, YEP includes other adjustments to reflect 2014 MeSH vocabulary and to enhance search retrieval. These follow-on adjustments are largely the adding of more MeSH Headings or Supplementary Concept Record Names to citations to help searchers refine retrieval. In some cases, the changes clarify areas where a single concept existed before, but it is now represented by two or more specific concepts.

These types of changes, along with others documented on the Annual MEDLINE/PubMed Year-End Processing (YEP): Background Information Web page, suggest the importance of routinely using the PubMed Details feature when searching to see how terms are mapped with the new year's vocabulary and then checking the MeSH Browser or the MeSH database for clarification. Additional information is also available in the article, Skill Kit: The Effects of Year End Processing (YEP) on Saved Searches or RSS Feeds.

New Publication Types (PT) for 2014

Three new publication types have been introduced for 2014 MeSH. They are:

  • Dataset
    This publication type is defined as "An organized collection of values stored permanently in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing." This publication type will not be used in combination with any other publication type as it is not to be used for journal articles that contain or produce datasets as part of the publication (including Supplemental Materials). Rather, it will be used on citations to items that are stand-alone descriptions of the metadata of a particular dataset.
  • Observational Study
    The scope note defines this publication type as "A clinical study in which participants may receive diagnostic, therapeutic, or other types of interventions, but the investigator does not assign participants to specific interventions (as in an interventional study)." This publication type should not be confused with the MeSH Heading "Observation" which is used for a scientific method. There is a related new MeSH Heading "Observational Studies as Topic," which is used for general design, methodology, economies, etc. of observational studies.
  • Pragmatic Clinical Trial
    This publication type refers to "Randomized clinical trials that compare interventions in clinical settings and which look at a range of effectiveness outcomes and impacts." There is a related new MeSH Heading, "Pragmatic Clinical Trial as Topic," which is used for general design, methodology, economics, etc. of pragmatic clinical trials.

Entry Combination Revisions

This year during YEP, NLM will again retrospectively replace certain MeSH heading/subheading combinations, known as Entry Combinations, with the new precoordinated MeSH heading. If you get no retrieval for a MeSH Heading/subheading combination check the heading in the 2014 MeSH Browser to see if the Entry Combination information indicates a different term.

There are 21 new Entry Combinations for 2014.

Previous MeSH Heading/Subheading
(Entry Combination)
Replaced-by Heading for 2014
 
3-Hydroxybutyric Acid/analogs & derivatives Hydroxybutyrates
Alcoholism/congenital Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Aminocaproic Acid/analogs & derivatives Aminocaproates
Dihydrouracil Dehydrogenase (NADP)/deficiency Dihydropyrimidine Dehydrogenase Deficiency
DNA Gyrase/antagonists & inhibitors Topoisomerase II Inhibitors
Drug Therapy/adverse effects Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions
Glutamates/antagonists & inhibitors Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists
Glutamic Acid/agonists Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists
Glutamic Acid/antagonists & inhibitors Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists
H(+)-K(+)-Exchanging ATPase/antagonists & inhibitors Proton Pump Inhibitors
Hand/transplantation Hand Transplantation
Hyoscyamine/analogs & derivatives Atropine Derivatives
Pharmaceutical Preparations/adverse effects Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions
Pharmaceutical Preparations/toxicity Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions
Phospholipases A2/antagonists & inhibitors Phospholipase A2 Inhibitors
Prolyl Hydroxylases/antagonists & inhibitors Prolyl-Hydroxylase Inhibitors
Proton Pumps/antagonists & inhibitors Proton Pump Inhibitors
Receptors, Neurokinin-1/antagonists & inhibitors Neurokinin-1 Receptor Antagonists
Sodium-Potassium-Chloride Symporters/antagonists & inhibitors Sodium Potassium Chloride Symporter Inhibitors
Solute Carrier Family 12, Member 3/antagonists & inhibitors Sodium Chloride Symporter Inhibitors
Sports for Persons with Disabilities/injuries Athletic Injuries

Author Affiliation

Effective with the implementation of the new PubMed system in mid-December and going forward, NLM will include Author Affiliations for all Authors, Corporate Authors and Investigators, if the data are supplied by the publisher in their XML submissions for MEDLINE indexed journals. To prepare for and support this change, NLM ceased quality control review and editing of the author affiliation field in the MEDLINE citations as of September 30, 2013.

[Editor's note: For additional information on author affiliation see Author, Corporate Author, and Collaborator Affiliation Display Changes.]

Databanks

Starting soon NLM will be including additional Databank names in MEDLINE citations. Currently NLM includes data from the 13 registries in the Secondary Source (SI) field. The additional data being carried include 13 new WHO Primary Clinical Trial Registries; UniProt databanks; and several NCBI databanks.

Structured Abstracts

In November 2013, NLM added 505 new labels to the list of structured abstract labels. This brings the total of vetted and mapped labels to 2,454.

By Sara Tybaert
MEDLARS Management Section

NLM Technical Bulletin National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health