DeCS 2004 – News

The big news for 2004 DeCS is the inclusion of diacritics for all terms in Spanish, and the conclusion of the conversion of the letters to lowercase from the second letter on for most terms and in a differentiated way for special cases such as diacritics, scientific names of organisms, and chemical terms, among others, facilitating comprehension of the concepts there found. details

Overview of Vocabulary Development and Changes

· 664 MeSH descriptors were added, of which the ten themes with the largest growth were that of bacteria (173), enzymes and coenzymes (117), amino acids, peptides and proteins (67), vertebrates (28), plants (21), organic compounds (18), cells (16), digestive system diseases (14), heterocyclic compounds (14) and growth substances, pigments and vitamins (12).

· 109 MeSH descriptors were replaced with more up-to-date terminology;

· 20 MeSH descriptors were deleted;

· 3266 synonyms were added, 484 of which from MeSH descriptors and 710 in qualifiers.

· Review of the Spanish terminology especially for the Anatomy (A), Diseases (C), and Psychiatry and Psychology (F) categories.

Case Report
This heading has been deleted and replaced by a Publication Type, a special kind of descriptor that characterizes the nature of the publication rather than what it is about. The practical meaning of the term has not been altered. The change was made to better reflect the character of the descriptor as used in indexing and DeCS and to place it in context among other Publication Types.

/toxicity
The definition for the qualifier /toxicity was revised to cover both experimental use and environmental exposure.

Expansion of Trees
The DeCS trees were expanded from nine to eleven levels to allow a more accurate reflection of the hierarchy in elaborated and complex areas.

Organisms – Category B:
Animals:  the expansion of the DeCS/MeSH tree structure has allowed for a long-awaited revision concerning the heading ANIMALS, the check tag ANIMAL, and related headings. The old descriptor ANIMALS will be changed to ANIMAL POPULATION GROUPS. It will retain all indented terms. The check tag ANIMAL will be changed to a new descriptor ANIMALS. It will function as both a descriptor and a check tag and will be treed at B1. The singular word Animal will map to this new plural heading.

The former descriptors B1 INVERTEBRATES and B2 VERTEBRATES will be treed under ANIMALS. The old B5 ALGAE AND FUNGI will be split into two descriptors. ALGAE will be at the top of B2 and FUNGI will now be at the top of B5. See 2004 MeSH Changes to the Category B Organisms Tree and the Check Tag Animal. NLM Tech Bull. 2003 Sep-Oct;(334):e5.

2003 Tree B1 Invertebrates B2 Vertebrates B3 Bacteria B4 Virus B5 Algae and Fungi B6 Plants B7 Archaea

2004 Tree B1 Animals Animal Population Groups Cordata Cordata, Nonvertebrate Vertebrates Invertebrates B2 Algae B3 Bacteria B4 Virus B5 Fungi B6 Plants B7 Archaea

Bacteria (B3): This subcategory was greatly expanded. The changes reflect the revisions in taxonomy presented in: Boone DR, Castenholz RW, Garrity GM, editors. Bergey's manual of systematic bacteriology. 2nd ed. Vol. 1, The Archaea and the deeply branching and phototropic bacteria. New York: Springer; c2001

Compostos Químicos e Drogas – categoria D:
Complex Mixtures (D20) is a new subtree. It contains descriptors for heterogeneous materials such as Manure, Soil, and Venoms. The first tree number of the term Anti-Infective Agents (formerly D20 and D27.505.102) was deleted.

The DeCS/MeSH heading, Antibiotics, has a new preferred heading, Anti-Bacterial Agents. Antibiotics remains an entry term (also called “see cross reference”). The heading was renamed because the formal meaning of antibiotics is something produced by a living organism that is used to kill other organisms. According to this formal meaning, sulfa drugs, quinolones, and other agents commonly used in this way are not antibiotics. Additionally, semi-synthetic antibiotics that alter what is produced naturally do not fit this description. Anti-Bacterial Agents more aptly describe these substances.

For other revisions made in category D, see What’s New for 2004 MeSH.

Ethnic Groups and Geographic Origins—Categories I and M:
The DeCS/MeSH descriptor Racial Stocks, and its four children (Australoid Race, Caucasoid Race, Mongoloid Race, and Negroid Race) have been deleted in 2004 along with Blacks and Whites. Race and ethnicity have been used as categories in biomedical research and clinical medicine. Recent genetic research indicates that the degree of genetic heterogeneity within groups and homogeneity across groups make race per se a less compelling predictor.

2004 Subtrees

Persons	M1
Population Groups	M1.686
Continental Population Groups	M1.686.508
African Continental Ancestry Group	M1.686.508.100
African Americans	M1.686.508.100.100
American Native Continental Ancestry Group	M1.686.508.150
Indians, Central American	M1.686.508.150.575
Indians, North American	M1.686.508.150.600
Indians, South American	M1.686.508.150.625
Inuits	M1.686.508.150.675
Asian Continental Ancestry Group	M1.686.508.200
Asian Americans	M1.686.508.200.100
European Continental Ancestry Group	M1.686.508.400
Oceanic Ancestry Group	M1.686.508.600
Ethnic Groups	M1.686.754
African Americans	M1.686.754.100
Arabs	M1.686.754.167
Gypsies	M1.686.754.283
Hispanic Americans	M1.686.754.441
Mexican Americans	M1.686.754.441.500
Inuits	M1.686.754.520
Jews	M1.686.754.600

2003 Subtrees

Persons	M1
Ethnic Groups	M1.194
Aborigines	M1.194.025
Arabs	M1.194.037
Asian Americans	M1.194.050
Blacks	M1.194.100
Eskimos	M1.194.247
Gypsies	M1.194.265
Hispanic Americans	M1.194.285
Mexican Americans	M1.194.285.500
Indians, Central American	M1.194.370
Indians, North American	M1.194.403
Indians, South American	M1.194.486
Jews	M1.194.582
Whites	M1.194.980

From: Schulman, J. What's New for 2004 MeSH^®. NLM Tech Bull. 2003 Nov-Dec;(335):e3. Disponível na World Wide Web: <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/nd03/nd03_mesh.html>

DeCS Unit/BIREME/PAHO/WHO