eChapters

Types

• News story

• Feature story

• Success story

• Popular article

• Radio and TV script

• Process or utility feature

• General information feature

• Experience feature

• Personality feature

News story

• Any new information, idea, event, situation or development, that is of interest to a large number of people, is a news.

• Any event when reported becomes a news.

The term “communication media” describes the channels through which data or information is sent and received. These tools or channels for data storage and transmission are known as transmission and storage means in telecommunication.

It is the effective weapon in today’s environment that eliminates societal ills and anomalies.

Popular types of communication media

Television: Transmits and receives moving images that can be monochrome (black-and-white) or coloured, with or without accompanying sound. Audiovisual medium of communication

Radio: Uses electromagnetic waves with frequencies lower than visible light to modulate and transmit signals. Modulation in electronics is the process of changing one or more characteristics of the carrier signal, a high frequency periodic waveform, in relation to a modulating signal.

Definition

Agricultural journalism is a specialized branch of journalism that deals with the techniques of receiving, writing, editing and reporting from information through the media like newspapers, periodicals, radio, TV, advertising etc. and the management processes connected with such production. It is the timely reporting and editing with words and photography of agricultural news and information for newspaper, magazine, radio and television.

It is otherwise known as Farm journalism

Farm journalism is very important for communicating with farm people. More and more of the extension staff’s writing is being read or listened to in newspapers, magazines, brochures, pamphlets, bulletins, circular letters, wall newspapers, and radio scripts. The written work makes working as a consultant with farmers more fascinating.

Principles of Farm/Agricultural journalism

The word journalism is derived from the word “Journal” which means a daily register or a diary.

• Journalism is the written, spoken, or visual dissemination of information about a day’s events.

• A journalist is someone who works as a writer or editor for a newspaper or magazine.

• Father of journalism: Joseph Pulitzer

• Father of journalism in India: James Augustus Hicky

Mesothelioma

• Arising from the mesothelial lining of serous cavities
• It is very difficult to differentiate from carcinoma, reactive mesothelial hyperplasia
• Round to polygonal cells
• Arranged mostly in clusters
• Centrally located hyperchromatic nuclei

Hepatocellular Carcinoma

• The presence of normal appearing hepatocytes of atypical hepatocytes with malignant characters
• Single to clusters of polyhedral or polygonal shaped or pleomorphic cells
• Large round, spherical or oval nuclei
• Higher nuclear cytoplasmic ratio
• Large nucleoli
• Dark blue cytoplasm

Adrenal Tumours

• Adrenal cortical adenoma had normal secretory cells
• Most cells had naked nuclei in the abundant cytoplasm
• Basophilic cytoplasm with abundant clear lipid vacuoles
• Round uniform nuclei

Canine Thyroid Tumours

• Occurs as carcinoma
• Blood contamination also seen
• Cluster of cells
• Free nuclei seen in the pale-blue cytoplasm
• Dark blue to black pigment present in the cytoplasm
• Amorphous pink materials represents colloid
• Colloid and pigmented granuls indicates the thyroid origin
• Round to oval nuclei

Testicular Tumours

Seminoma

• Cells were round exhibiting anisocytosis
• Round to oval nuclei
• Single distinct eosinophilic to basophilic nucleoli
• Cytoplasm scanty

Sertoli Cell Tumours

• Cellularity - High, anisocytosis
• Nucleus round to oval, megakaryosis, 1-3 basophilic nucleoli
• Chromatin coarse and granular
• Cytoplasm vacuolated

Mesenchymal Tumours

General Features

• Do not exfoliate many cells - hypocellular; Low cellularity
• Embedded in extracellular matrix-osteoid, chondroid or collagen
• Single, discrete cells and a few are also seen in dense clumps i.e. Individual or unorganized cluster of spindle cells
• Cells-Elongated, fusiform/spindle shaped
• Cytoplasmic extensions/tails seen on both ends of nucleus; borders ill-defined
• Nucleus elongated/fusiform to oval
• As the malignancy potential increases cells become plumpy with a larger, rounder nucleus and shorter cytoplasmic tails
• Nuclei may be fusiform or oval.
• These tumors cannot be differentiated cytologically.
• Tentative diagnosis made.
• Well-differentiated malignant mesenchymal tumors may resemble actively proliferating granulation and requires histologic confirmation.

Non-Neoplastic Conditions

Haematoma

Collection of blood in outside of the blood vessels It is more common in external ear

• Presence of erythrocytes, blood filled leococytes (non-degenerative neutrophils and macrophages) and platelets
  • Haemosiderin or haematoidin crystals will be seen

Epidermoid cyst/Epidermal cyst/Epidermal inclusion cysts/Follicular cyst

Cytologically cannot distinguish epidermoid cyst from dermoid cyst

• Constitutes ????V3 to V2 of non-neoplastic/non-inflammatory lesion
• Smear is thick
• Keratin bars, squames and other keratinocytes

Points to Ponder

Collect cytological samples (FNAB) only from enlarged lymph nodes

Do not make attempt to collect samples from normal lymph nodes unless to study normal picture (Academic interest).

Care to be taken to hold the lymph node while collecting FNAB

Otherwise needle may go into perinodal fat yielding fat tissue so also in obesity

Submandibular salivary gland enlargement mimic submandibular lymph node enlargement

Salivary tissue will show epithelial cells, acinar formation and no lymphocytes

Cytological diagnosis of lymphadenopathies can be comfortably and confidently made.

Peripheral Lymph Nodes

Discrete Cell Tumours

(Round / discrete / distinctive / unique cell tumours)

General Features

• Exfoliate many cells
• Cells often quite small to medium sized
• Discrete cells
• Do not stick together
• If the smear is very cellular, cells are packed close together in sheets
• However, these cells are not adherent to one another
• There are sharp, crisp cytoplasmic margins between cells

Answer Inflammatory or Not

• If yes it is non-neoplastic or inflammatory
• If no, consider neoplastic conditions
• Certain non-neoplastic conditions may not show inflammatory cells (Haematoma, cystic fluid, epidermal/dermal cysts)
• Inflammation or non-neoplastic condition is characterized by a mixed population of cells including neutrophils, lymphocytes, plasma cells, eosinophils, macrophages, epithelioid cells and giant cells.
• Inflammatory reactions often result in hyperplasia of surrounding tissues.
• If not inflammatory, it may be neoplastic.

Good smear is well spread and tongue shaped. If forced during discharge of materials from the syringe, it is sprayed on to slide.

The ideal smears will yield intact and well stained cells (Figure) should have a clear demarcation between the nucleus and cytoplasm

Poor smear will show no cellularity or damaged cells.

Location is important

Since, one should recognize whether cells belong to that area and / or not

Basic aim

• To establish an aetiological and/or morphological diagnosis in order to obtain a more accurate prognosis

Salient Points in Cytological Examination

• Cytology is a joint effort between the clinician and cytologist
• Adequate history, clinical signs and methods of collection should be intimated
• Interpretation suffers if done in a vacuum of information
• Cytology is an rapid, inexpensive technique in tumour diagnosis

Check the Following

Different types of Romanowsky type of stains are used for staining the cytological smears. It will give excellent cytoplasmic and nuclear details and it also stains bacteria. The following stains are commonly used. e.g., Wrights, Giemsa, Leishman, Wright-Giemsa, May-Grunwald-Giemsa, Leishman-Giemsa, Haematoxylin and Eosin, Diffquik stains, Trichrome stains, Papanicolaou or Sano modification.

Staining Methods

Leishman-Giemsa

• Cover the smear with LG stain for a minute
• Dilute with tap water/Distilled water/ phosphate buffered saline pH 6.87.2
• Allow to stain for about 20 min
• Wash in water

Fixation can be done by either wet fixation or dry fixation. If staining is to be delayed for a few days, cell preservation enhanced by fixation. Fix the slide within 30-60 seconds.

Wet Fixation

A judicious use of cytology will be beneficial to the practicing veterinarians as diagnosis is available within a shortest period of time and can decide on proper treatment e.g. TVT can be successfully treated medically without surgical intervention.

Diagnostic Approach in Clinical Set Up

• Clinical investigation
• Clinical pathology
• Necropsy
• Biopsy
• Cytology
• Histopathology
• Electron microscopy
• Fluorescent antibody techniques
• Immunohistochemistry
• Genomic techniques
• Microarray
• Proteomics
• Metabolomics etc.