Status of the Reorganization of National Library of Medicine Bibliographic Databases

Technical Notes Status of the Reorganization of National Library of Medicine Bibliographic Databases NLM Creates Web Site for Arctic Health New Clinical Advisory Issued New Version of NLM Gateway Released - November 15, 2001 MeSH 2002 Files Available for Downloading - [Tree Number Change Made on December 10, 2001.] NHLBI Issues New Clinical Advisory Name Changes for PubMed Fields New Version of NLM Gateway Released - December 17, 2001

November 05, 2001 [posted]

For the status of NLM's system reinvention efforts, please see http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/conversion/
conversion_status.html. This Web site includes a chart summarizing the dispersal of unique materials from the former ELHILL^® databases (e.g., SPACELINE^TM, BIOETHICSLINE^®, AIDSLINE^®). It also includes a list of the NLM Technical Bulletin articles that document the conversion process. As we complete this process, this Web page will be updated to show our progress.

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NLM Creates Web Site for Arctic Health

The National Library of Medicine has created a Web site aimed at the special needs of the inhabitants of the Arctic. The new site, Arctic Health, has sections devoted to chronic diseases, behavioral issues, traditional medicine, environment/pollution, and environmental justice. It is the first in what may become a series of health information Web sites for special populations and the health professionals who serve them. For more information on the Arctic Health Web site see the press release at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/press_releases/arcticpr01.html.

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New Clinical Advisory Issued

The National Eye Institute has issued a new Clinical Advisory, Antioxidant Vitamins and Zinc Reduce Risk of Vision Loss from Age-Related Macular Degeneration. Same Nutrients Have No Effect on the Development of Cataract.

A nationwide clinical trial reported that high levels of antioxidants and zinc significantly reduce the risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and its associated vision loss. These same nutrients had no significant effect on the development or progression of cataract. These findings were reported in the October 2001 issue of Archives of Ophthalmology:

[This link was removed because it is no longer valid]Arch Ophthalmol. 2001 Oct;119(10):1417-36
[This link was removed because it is no longer valid]Arch Ophthalmol. 2001 Oct;119(10):1439-52

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New Version of NLM Gateway Released - November 15, 2001

On November 15, 2001, a new version of the NLM Gateway was released. Please see What's New on the NLM Gateway sidebar for details.

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MeSH^® 2002 Files Available for Downloading

The 2002 version of the MeSH vocabulary in ASCII and XML (eXtensible Markup Language) format may now be downloaded at no charge from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/filelist.html after completion of a brief online Memorandum of Understanding. This is the first year that MeSH data are available in XML format. A sample XML file, three MeSH-related DTDs (Document Type Definition), and documentation are also available from this Web site. The three DTDs are: Descriptor DTD for MeSH Heading records, Qualifier DTD for subheading records, and SCR DTD for Supplementary Concept Records (formerly known as Supplementary Chemical Records).

The MeSH files available for download are:

1. XML and ASCII MeSH - contains complete records for all descriptor, subheading, and supplementary concept records. These files are updated periodically. Current plans call for a weekly update, usually involving only supplementary concept records. However, minor changes to descriptors and qualifier records (e.g., correcting typographical errors) may take place and be present in updated files.
2. MeSH Trees - contains descriptors with their associated hierarchical tree numbers; sorted by tree number; subheadings and supplementary concept records are not included; updated annually.
3. MeSH in MARC-compatible format - contains MeSH Headings, subheadings and combination MeSH Heading/subheading records in MARC-compatible format; supplementary concept records are not included; updated annually.
4. Pharmacological Action Lists for 2002 - contains pharmacologic actions of a given drug and drugs with a given pharmacologic action

The 2002 MeSH tools may also be ordered from National Technical Information Service (NTIS) in printed format. See the Technical Note in the September-October 2001 issue of the NLM Technical Bulletin, titled MeSH® Tools 2002 Available for Purchase.

[Tree Number Change Made on December 10, 2001: NLM made a last minute change to the 2002 tree number for the MeSH Heading Albania. The 2002 tree number has changed from Z01.542.248.000 to Z01.542.248.020. The MeSH files available for download on Monday December 10, 2001 from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/ include this change.]

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NHLBI Issues New Clinical Advisory

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has issued a new Clinical Advisory, Women with Rare Lung Disease Found to Also Have High Prevalence of Meningiomas, First Study to Document Tumor Connection; Possible Hormonal Cause.

Scientists at the NHLB Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) report that women with a rare lung disease known as LAM (lymphangioleiomyomatosis) have a high prevalence of meningiomas, a type of brain tumor.

The study was published in the October 17 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association:

JAMA. 2001 Oct 17;286(15):1879-81

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Name Changes for PubMed Fields

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) has decided to standardize the names of fields for the Entrez databases, including PubMed. The following changes for field names have been made on the pull-down menu on the Preview/Index screen and also the Fields pull-down menu on the Limits screen.

These new field names have been added as search tags. (Old search tags remain in use.) No changes have been made to the display tags used in the MEDLINE and XML formats.

PubMed's Help has been revised to use the new field names.

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New Version of NLM Gateway Released - December 17, 2001

On December 17, 2001, a new version of the NLM Gateway was released. Please see What's New on the NLM Gateway sidebar for details.

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