What’s new in 2012 DeCS

This article highlights the additions and changes in the DeCS vocabulary in 2012.

Overview of Vocabulary Development and Changes

• 454 MeSH descriptors and 93 synonyms were added and translated to Spanish and Portuguese; the ten subcategories receiving the greatest additions were:
• D12 - Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins (164);
  D23 - Biological Factors (149);
  C10 - Nervous System Diseases (60);
  E05 - Investigative Techniques (48);
  E02 - Therapeutics (36);
  E01 - Diagnosis (34);
  C23 - Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms (32);
  G02 - Chemical Phenomena (30);
  C26 - Wounds and Injuries (28)
  N06 - Environment and Public Health (26);
  
  
• 42 MeSH descriptors and 69 DeCS descriptors were replaced with more up-to-date terminology in English
• 282 DeCS descriptors had their Spanish version updated
• 228 DeCS descriptors had their Portuguese version updated
• 15 MeSH descriptors and 1 DeCS descriptor were eliminated
• 14 MeSH synonyms were added in existent concepts and translated to Spanish and Portuguese;
• 1818 DeCS synonyms were added (of which 796 in Spanish and 1022 in Portuguese)
• 454 definitions and 81 indexing annotations for the new MeSH concepts were translated to Spanish and Portuguese;
• 370 definitions and 322 indexing annotations had their translations to Spanish and Portuguese updated.

Totals by Type of Terminology

DeCS	2010	2011	variation
Descriptors (per language)	30.899	31.322	423	1,37%
Synonyms (per language, average)	35.666	36.403	736	2,06%
Descriptors (eng + spa + por)	92.697	93.966	1.269	1,37%
Synonyms (eng + spa + por)	106.999	109.208	2.209	2,06%
Descriptors + Synonyms (eng + spa+ por)	199.696	203.174	3.478	1,74%

eng=English; spa=Spanish; por=Portuguese

New Descriptors by Tree Category

DeCS/MeSH Tree Category	Number of descriptors
A – Anatomy	30
B – Organisms	25
C – Diseases	83
D – Chemicals and Drugs	112
E – Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment	82
F – Psychiatry and Psychology	22
G – Phenomena and Processes	75
H – Disciplines and Occupations	3
HP – Homeopathy	0
I – Anthropology, Education, Sociology and Social Phenomena	4
J – Technology, Industry, Agriculture	13
K – Humanities	2
L – Information Science	6
M – Named Groups	8
N – Health Care	35
SH – Science and Health	0
SP – Public Health	0
V – Publication Characteristics	0
VS – Health Surveillance	0
Z – Geographicals	2

The total is greater than 454 because some descriptors occur in more than one category.

DeCS 2012 edition is available for online searching through the DeCS Search or directly from the Virtual Health Library homepage.

Helpful Links

Please consult the DeCS 2012 edition or the 2012 online Introduction to MeSH 2012 for more details. A complete list of new and changed vocabulary is available at these links:

Vocabulary Changes

New Descriptors by category

Replaced Descriptors

Deleted Descriptors

DeCS tree number changes

MeSH tree number changes

Major Tree Revisions

Organism and Organelle-specific Sub-concepts

MeSH had a number of descriptors that included organelle- and organism-specific terms in sub-concepts as Entry Terms. This arrangement required an additional coordinating heading to be used when searching with one of the pre-coordinated Entry Terms. For example, searchers using the highly specific MeSH Entry Term "Mitochondrial Initiation Factors" would need to use coordination with "Mitochondrial Proteins." To avoid this confusion we removed organism- and organelle-specific terms in cases where the concept merely refers to the same or nearly same protein found in a different location or different organism. For 2012 MeSH, the Entry Term "Mitochondrial Initiation Factors" no longer exists as an Entry Term to "Eukaryotic Initiation Factors." In cases where there is a distinct protein subtype that is only found in a specific organelle or organism the sub-concept was promoted to a new descriptor class.

Recombinant Proteins

In the past a series of specific recombinant protein headings were created to distinguish several pharmaceutically-significant protein classes. However, the advent of recombinant protein technology for the production of most pharmaceutical proteins has made this distinction obsolete. With this in mind we removed specific recombinant protein classes from MeSH. Citations will be maintained to the appropriate protein classes and the general heading "Recombinant Proteins." Note that defined pharmaceutical preparations of individual recombinant proteins, e.g., interferon alfa-2a, will be maintained in the supplemental concept record.

New HLA Antigens Typing System Nomenclature Introduced into MeSH

A new nomenclature system for HLA antigens was recently devised by the WHO Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA System. This system was needed to support the vast number of HLA antigens that are now characterized at the level of DNA sequence. In order to make 2012 MeSH conform to the new HLA system over 370 MeSH concepts were updated and 25 new HLA-related descriptor classes were created. See Nomenclature for Factors of the HLA System for further information on how HLA antigens are named.

Other pertinent articles:

MEDLINE/PubMed Year-End Processing Activities

2012 MeSH Now Available

Cataloging News 2012

MEDLINE Data Changes — 2012

What's New for 2012 MeSH

Newly Maintained MEDLINE for 2012 MeSH Now Available in PubMed

From:

Schulman JL. What's New for 2012 MeSH®. NLM Tech Bull. 2011 Nov-Dec; (383):e8. Available on the Internet: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/nd11/nd11_mesh.html

Adaptation by: Health Terminologies and Classifications Section at BIREME/PAHO/WHO

Date of update: January, 2012