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What's New for 2014 MeSH

Schulman J. What's New for 2014 MeSH. NLM Tech Bull. 2013 Nov-Dec;(395):e8.

December 18, 2013 [posted]

Overview of Vocabulary Development and Changes for 2014

  • 304 Descriptors added
  • 40 Descriptor terms replaced with more up-to-date terminology
  • 8 Descriptors deleted

Totals by Type of Terminology

  • 27,149 Descriptors
  • 83 Qualifiers
  • 219,266 Supplementary Concept Records

Helpful Links

Please consult the 2014 online Introduction to MeSH for more details. Lists of new and changed vocabulary are available at these links:

MeSH Vocabulary Changes
New Descriptors - 2014
Changed Descriptors - 2014
Deleted Descriptors - 2014
New Descriptors by Tree Subcategory - 2014

Update: Unique Ingredient Identifiers (UNIIs) Added to MeSH Descriptors

The UNII Project is a collaborative effort between NLM and Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) informatics scientists to include FDA Substance Registration System (SRS) - Unique Ingredient Identifiers (UNIIs) in MeSH. The first part of this project, completed for the 2013 MeSH year, involved updating MeSH Supplemental Concepts (SCRs) with UNII identifiers. The 2014 MeSH release completes the second part and includes 2,900 UNII updates for Descriptor chemicals. In total, there are now 10,837 UNII identifiers in MeSH.

Because many of the MeSH UNII concepts involve pharmaceutical compounds, the range of pharmacological action (PA) classes covered by MeSH was expanded and a new category, "Diagnostic Uses of Chemicals," was added. This effort was coordinated with the UNII project so that MeSH headings could be simultaneously reviewed for UNII and PA assignments. It is hoped that the addition of UNII identifiers and new MeSH PA assignments will improve the utility of the MeSH database as a resource for drug information.

Genetics Home Reference

In the Fall of 2013, MeSH finalized the integration of Genetic Home Reference (GHR) disease vocabulary completing a goal of covering more than 95% of all the human diseases and conditions with genetic components in MeSH. Human disease terms from the NIH Office of Rare Diseases and Research (ORDR), Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM), and GHR are now part of MeSH.