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Dear all, I fully agree with Graham on using u for µ in electronic communication. Due to differences in codepages (character sets) in different computer systems it is not guaranteed that the µ character will be always advanced as µ in the next computer system in the communication chain. Therefore in the LOINC database of codes for the exchange of laboratory information between computer systems (Regenstrief Institute) the u character is used instead of µ. Dirk Bakkeren, PhD Clinical chemist Dr. D.L. Bakkeren | Clinical Laboratory PO box 7777 5500 MB Veldhoven T: +31-408888900 F: +31-408888029 E: [log in to unmask] <blocked::mailto:[log in to unmask]> ________________________________ Van: Clinical biochemistry discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Namens Graham Jones Verzonden: maandag 19 augustus 2013 2:25 Aan: [log in to unmask] Onderwerp: Re: Units Dear Angela and others, The issue of u v mu (µ) has recently been addressed in Australia. We have agreed to adopt the UCUM (Unified Codes for Units of Measure) formatting principles to only use letters from the standard ascii printable character set. Thus u is preferred to µ. Even to put the µ in above I had a choice of copying the one you provided or (as I did) look up the code in the ASCII extended character set and type in ALT 230. While most printers and screen displays have no trouble with the extended character set this is not universal. In a setting where our results may be taken and used by different computer systems we have a requirement to avoid potential errors. I know results are typed or copied and pasted into e-mails, discharge summaries etc and data extract programs run on any pathology database you can name. I have attached some examples of errors I have seen. My favourite is from a journal article making a recomendation on this topic where the same block of text was both correctly and incorrectly rendered for the character mu (I think one was from a heading which used a different formatting, see attached). UCUM is certainly not widely known (I have been seeking signs of recognition from colleagues over the last year or so, usually without only blank faces in response). My understanding is that as well as providing for uniform human-readable information the key aspect is for unambigious machine readable data transmission, making robust calculations based on computer data more realistic. For this interested the official Australian position is at: http://www.rcpa.edu.au//static/file/Asset%20library/public%20documents/Publications/PUTS/APUTS%20Standard%20v1_4.pdf More about UCUM is at: unitsofmeasure.org Regarding IU or U (for International Units and Units) we have gone to the source of the reference (as per Anders Kallner's comments) . For example if an assay is traceable to a WHO reference material, and the Certificate uses the term "IU" then so should we. Regards, Graham ________________________________________ From: Clinical biochemistry discussion list on behalf of Kremmyda, Angela Sent: Saturday, 17 August 2013 7:41 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Units At the risk of being pedantic, is u an authorised prefix instead of μ? Modern computers are meant to be used in lots of languages - why is it so difficult to insert a μ for all these units? Best wishes, Angela Angela Kremmyda DipRCPath Principal Clinical Scientist (Biochemistry) Royal Alexandra Hospital Tel: 0141-3147199 ________________________________ ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. 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