UMLS® 2005AB Release, June 2005

[Editor's Note added July 22, 2005]
[Editor's Note added July 28, 2005]

[Editor's Note (July 28, 2005): MeSH attribute data in the 2005AB release files has been corrected. Revised files were made available for download on July 26, 2005.]

[Editor's Note (July 22, 2005): ALERT: UMLS users who use MeSH attribute data should NOT download the 2005AB release files until further notice. Users who do not use this data may continue to use the current release with confidence. Further details available at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/umls/. ]

The 2005AB edition of the UMLS Knowledge Sources was made available to licensees for downloading from the UMLS Knowledge Source Server on June 17, 2005. DVDs will be mailed in early July to licensees who requested them. Release documentation is available in HTML and PDF at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/archive//20080407/research/umls/archive/2005AB/umlsdoc.html

Metathesaurus
The 2005AB Metathesaurus contains more than 1 million concepts and 5.5 million unique concept names from over 100 source vocabularies. Over twenty source vocabularies were updated, including SNOMED CT^®, Gene Ontology, and five translations of MeSH^®. Rich Release Format (RRF) Browser (beta) This new tool allows users to view and search their customized Metathesaurus subsets. It continues to be enhanced in a test version, with documentation at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/umls/implementation_resources/metamorphosys/RRF_Browser.html.

MRCXT Builder (beta)
A new tool, MRCXT Builder, enables users to generate a customized MRCXT.RRF file from MRCONSO.RRF and MRHIER.RRF data in their Metathesaurus subsets. The MRCXT builder is the preferred way to create a customized MRCXT.RRF, if you need a MRCXT file at all. This option is only available in RRF format. MRHIER data is not made available in the original release format (ORF), and therefore, MRCXT Builder cannot generate a MRCXT file in ORF. Documentation for the MRCXT builder is currently linked from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/umls/implementation_resources/metamorphosys/MRCXT_Builder.html

MRCXT accounts for over half of the overall size of the Metathesaurus (in either Rich or Original Release Formats), and has become unwieldy for processing. Users may exclude MRCXT.RRF (MRCXT) from their subsets by selecting this option on the Options Tab of MetamorphoSys. Users who do not use MRCXT.RRF (MRCXT) in their applications should take advantage of this option to reduce subset size and improve processing time.

NOTE: NLM TO DISCONTINUE MRCXT.RRF (MRCXT) IN 2006AA (January 2006)

File validation
A new option "Validate Distribution", which validates downloaded or copied UMLS release files, is now available from the File menu on the Welcome screen. See Section 6.3.1, Welcome to MetamorphoSys, for more information.

Enhanced Source Options Tab
Users can now select from two radio buttons located at the top of the Source Options tab to determine if selections should be included in or excluded from their custom subset.

2005AC Available in November 2005
The 2005AC release of the UMLS Knowledge Sources will be available in November 2005, and will include the 2006 version of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).

For more information on the UMLS, including how to register to obtain access to UMLS Knowledge Sources, visit the UMLS Home page at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/umls/