Technical Notes - e1

Year-End Processing - e2

YEP of Stored and Saved Searches, Changes to Automatic SDI's and Saved Searches - ELHILL MEDLARS System - e3

Farewell to Gratefully Yours - e4

The Year-2000 Solution for ELHILL and the MEDLARS Databases - e5

MeSH Coming Attractions [corrected 1999/01/11] - e6

AVLINE® and CATLINE® Data to be Removed from Other NLM Databases [corrected 1999/02/09] - e7

MeSH on the Web - e8

List of MeSH Heading Pre-explosions

List of Subheading Pre-explosions

MEDLINE - 1999 Weekly Update Schedule on ELHILL

AIDSLINE - 1999 Weekly Update Schedule on ELHILL

HealthSTAR - 1999 Weekly Update Schedule on ELHILL

NLM Databases - 1999 Monthly Update Schedule on ELHILL

1999 NLM Pricing Algorithm Chart - [This link was removed because it is no longer valid.]

MEDLARS Pricing Schedule

MeSH Coming Attractions

[corrected 1999/01/11]

[published erratum appears in the NLM Technical Bulletin. 1998 Nov-Dec;(305):e1]

[corrected 1999/08/10]

[published erratum appears in the NLM Technical Bulletin. 1999 Jul-Aug;(309):e1]

There were 303 [corrected 1999/01/11] descriptors added to the 1999 MeSH including 38 Publication Types. Five descriptors were deleted. A list of new Publication Types appears at the end of this article with their scope notes.

Changes to the following four categories are highlighted as of particular interest and are described in more detail later in this article:

1. Fungi
   Many new headings were added to the B5 tree and others modified to reflect developments in the taxonomy of the fungi.
   
   
2. Genetics
   New headings were added to the G5 tree and to the E5 tree (Techniques).
   
   
3. Delivery of Healthcare
   New headings were added to reflect recent Federal legislation and other developments.
   
   
4. Chemicals and Drugs
   A listing of all 71 new D category headings appears elsewhere in this issue. A new Subcategory D27 was created to group all MeSH Headings used as Pharmacologic Actions. A sample of this new Subcategory is shown later in this article under Chemical Actions and Uses (D27).

As always, comments and suggestions regarding possible new headings and changes to existing headings are welcome. Comments and suggestions may be made from the MeSH Home Page at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshsugg.html.

Fungi (B5)

The Fungi tree was enhanced with 23 new MeSH headings to reflect developments in taxonomy. There are also many MeSH Heading (MH) changes and Tree changes as fungi names and taxonomies have undergone alterations.

Many fungi have a sexual (teleomorphic) and asexual (anamorphic or mitosporic) form. These are also called perfect and imperfect states. Each form (state) has its own taxonomic name.

Reciprocal cross references (see related notes) have been made between each related teleomorph and anamorph (mitosporic) fungus. For example, under the MeSH heading Colletrotrichum in the printed Annotated MeSH there will be the notation: see related Phyllacorales. And under Phyllacoralles there will be the notation: see related Colletrotrichum.

New MeSH Headings for Fungi

Absidia

Aphyllophorales

Pleurotus

Botrytis

Colletotrichum

Cunninghamella

Entomophthorales

Conidiobolus

Gliocladium

Lentinus

Madurella

Mortierella

Neocallimasticales

Neocallimastix

Piromyces

Onygenales

Phanerochaete

Phyllachorales

Magnaporthe

Rhizomucor

Verticillium

Zygosaccharomyces

Fungi, Unclassified

The annotation in the printed Annotated MeSH and in the AN field in the MeSH file in EHILL will read: "author will state "unclassified"; do not confuse with fungi "unnamed" or unspecified by author (= probably FUNGI); GEN: avoid; infections by unclassified fungi: coord IM with MYCOSES or specific mycosis (IM)"

Genetics (G5)

Many new headings were added in the area of genetics. They are listed below in general groupings based on Tree Numbers. These are followed by some related new headings for techniques used in genetic research.

Genes:

Expressed Sequence Tags

Genes, Duplicate

Genes, Essential

Genes, rRNA

Genetics, Biochemical:

Gene Duplication

Trans-Splicing

Base Sequence:

Expressed Sequence Tags

Response Elements

Interspersed Repetitive Sequences

Endogenous Retroviruses

Alu Elements

Long Interspersed Nucleotide Elements

Short Interspersed Nucleotide Elements

Tandem Repeat Sequences

Terminal Repeat Sequences

Untranslated Regions

3' Untranslated Regions

5' Untranslated Regions

Amino Acid Sequence:

Catalytic Domain

Repetitive Sequences, Amino Acid

Mutation:

Base Pair Mismatch

Mutation, Missense

Others:

Chromosome Segregation

Genetic Predisposition to Disease

Anticipation, Genetic

Polygenic Inheritance

Genetics-Related Techniques (E5)

Chromosome Painting

Contig Mapping

Heteroduplex Analysis

In Situ Nick-End Labeling

Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis

Physical Chromosome Mapping

Primed In Situ Labeling

Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

Delivery of Healthcare

Patient Consent and Ethical Issues

Embryo Disposition

Presumed Consent

Proxy

Third-Party Consent

Health Care Financing Reform, Managed Care, and Related Topics

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

Hospitalists

Medical Savings Accounts

Medicare Part C

Medicare Payment Advisory Commission

Outsourced Services

Patient Freedom of Choice Laws

Patient Self-Determination Act

Personnel Downsizing

Provider-Sponsored Organizations

Reimbursement, Disproportionate Share

Risk Adjustment

Risk Sharing, Financial

New 1999 Category D MeSH Vocabulary

The following terms, listed by Subcategory, are additions to MeSH for 1999. As appropriate, Pharmacologic Action(s) (PA:) are shown to the right of the term along with brief notes. An asterisk indicates the term was a Supplementary Chemical in 1998 MeSH.

D2 - Organic Chemicals

Chemical Actions and Uses (D27)

This new subcategory was created to logically arrange the Pharmacological Action headings within the MeSH hierarchy. A full listing of the Pharmacological Action headings is available at the front of the printed Tree Structures. Except for three new headings (Chemical Actions, Chemical Actions and Uses, and Uses of Chemicals and Drugs) the headings in this new subcategory were previously found elsewhere in Category D. These headings also appear elsewhere, as in past years, but here all appear together, regardless of particular organ system or mode of action. Note that individual substances are not included in D27.

A partial example of the new subcategory is shown here and this example includes headings that also appear in D8 and D14.

Neurotransmitter Agents

Cholinergic Agents

Cholinergic Agonists

Muscarinic Agonists

Nicotinic Agonists

Cholinergic Antagonists

Nicotinic Antagonists

Cholinesterase Inhibitors

Cholinesterase Reactivators

Muscarinic Antagonists

Dopamine Agents

Dopamine Agonists

Dopamine Antagonists

Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors

Excitatory Amino Acid Agents

Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists

Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists

GABA Agents

GABA Agonists

GABA Antagonists

GABA Modulators

Glycine Agents

Histamine Agents

Histamine Agonists

Histamine Antagonists

Histamine H1 Antagonists

Histamine H2 Antagonists

Publication Types

In coordination with planned changes in NLM cataloging practice and the implementation of the Integrated Library System (ILS), 38 new Publication Types were created and modifications were made to some existing Publication Types (PTs). None of these new PTs will be used for indexing journal articles; these PTs will be used exclusively for the cataloging of books and other materials.

Previous NLM cataloging practice used form subheadings to characterize the genre or format of presentation of information as in /bibliographies or /union lists. With the new ILS, such form subdivisions or subheadings will be replaced with PTs. As a result, there was a need for new PTs to reflect the breadth of materials in the NLM collections.

New 1999 Publication Types:

Abbreviations [Publication Type]
Lists of shortened forms of written words or phrases used for brevity. Acronyms are included here.

Abstracts [Publication Type]
Works that list publications on the subject and provide full annotated bibliographical information together with substantive summaries or condensations of the facts, ideas, or opinions presented in each publication listed. (from LC Subject Cataloging Manual)

Anecdotes [Publication Type]
Brief factual narratives of interesting, often amusing incidents.

Atlases [Publication Type]
Collections of illustrative plates, charts, etc. usually with explanatory captions.

Biobibliography [Publication Type]
Works giving biographical information as well as lists of the writings of those persons.

Charts [Publication Type]
Information presented in graphic form, for example, graphs or diagrams.

Chronology [Publication Type]
Lists of events arranged in chronological order.

Collected Correspondence [Publication Type]
Collected letters by or about a person or on a subject.

Collected Works [Publication Type]
Collections of previously published works.

Collections [Publication Type]
Collections of objects.

Drawings [Publication Type]
Graphic representations of objects or ideas by lines.

Electronic Journals [Publication Type]
Journals, serials or other periodicals published and distributed in online or other electronic format.

Essays [Publication Type]
Collections of papers and essays not previously published.

Examination Questions [Publication Type]
Compilations of questions and answers pertaining to a particular subject, used for study and review.

Exhibitions [Publication Type]
Descriptions or catalogs of public displays or items representative of a given subject.

Forms [Publication Type]
Works consisting of or containing a substantial number of blank forms.

Handbooks [Publication Type]
Concise reference works in which facts and information pertaining to a certain subject or field are arranged for ready reference and consultation rather than for continuous reading and study.

Humor [Publication Type]
Jokes and facetiae relating to a subject.

Indexes [Publication Type]
Works providing an analytical subject approach to materials in a field of knowledge.

Juvenile Literature [Publication Type]
Works produced for children through age 15 or through the ninth grade.

Laboratory Manuals [Publication Type]
Works containing concise background information and directions for activities, including conducting experiments or diagnostic tests in the laboratory.

Legislation [Publication Type]
Works consisting of the text of laws, statutes, ordinances, or government regulations.

Manuscripts [Publication Type]
Works prepared by hand including handwritten or typescript drafts of pre-publication papers or works not otherwise reproduced in multiple copies.

Nurses' Instruction [Publication Type]
Materials developed for a nursing audience.

Outlines [Publication Type]
Brief statements of the principal elements of a subject, usually arranged by heads and subheads.

Patents [Publication Type]
Documents granted by a government giving exclusive rights to an inventor or assignee to manufacture, use, or sell an invention for a certain number of years.

Periodicals [Publication Type]
Publications intended to be issued indefinitely at stated, more or less regular intervals.

Personal Narratives [Publication Type]
Accounts of personal experience in relation to a particular field or of participation in related activities or autobiographical accounts.

Phrases [Publication Type]
Works consisting of common terms, phrases, idioms, and typical conversations, e.g., between health professional and patients. These are often intended for use by non-native speakers of a language.

Pictorial Works [Publication Type]
Works consisting exclusively or mainly of pictures but not technical drawings.

Popular Works [Publication Type]
Works written for non-professional or lay audiences.

Problems and Exercises [Publication Type]
Collections of practice problems and exercises, generally for instructional or review use.

Programmed Instruction [Publication Type]
Sequenced self-correction texts.

Resource Guides [Publication Type]
Works listing and describing various sources of information, from multiple media or in different formats, on a given subject.

Statistics [Publication Type]
Presentations of numerical data on particular subjects.

Tables [Publication Type]
Presentation of data in a tabular form.

Terminology [Publication Type]
Lists of the technical terms or expressions used in a specific field. These lists may or may not be formally adopted or sanctioned by usage.

Union Lists [Publication Type]
Records of the holdings or items owned by two or more libraries.

Changed Publication Types

Changes were made to three Publication Types used to index journal articles in order to allow parallel bibliographic control of materials indexed (e.g., journal articles) and of those cataloged (e.g., books). Previously, for example, cataloging and indexing used similar but not identical terms for materials consisting of the discussion or presentation of legal cases. Now the same PT, Legal Cases, will be used for similar information, presented in a similar manner whether this material appears in a book or a journal article. This will simplify retrieval of information, providing more complete searches against multiple interfaces. The three changed PTs are:

Abstract was changed to Meeting Abstracts [corrected 1999/08/10]

(this PT is used for abstracts of presentations at various types of meetings, not for designating abstracts accompanying journal articles; it is currently used in AIDSLINE, HealthSTAR, HISTLINE, POPLINE, SPACELINE, and TOXLINE)

Legal Brief was changed to Legal Cases

Meeting Report was changed to Congresses

--prepared by Jacque-Lynn Schulman

and Angela Page

MeSH Section

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