New Distribution Capability (NDC) and its Effects on Travel Industry in Oman

Purpose: The objectives of the study were to analyze the effects of transformation from GDS to NDC from the perspectives of the travel agencies in Oman; to find out the concerns of the travel agencies in Oman with regards to the implementation of NDC and to compare the benefits of NDC content with GDS from the perspectives of the travel agencies in Oman. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey, telephone, and personal interview were conducted with 19top leading travel agencies in Muscatregion, Oman. Each travel agency manager was given the questionnaire through online. The telephone/ personal interview was also conducted. Around 78 employees were targeted out of which only 13 responded. The data collected was analyzed using Statistical package. Findings: The findings support the fact that Oman being a small market with many small and medium players’ implementations of NDC is slow. The current pandemic has slowed it down even further. But the travel agencies should be offered help in terms of training and awareness by the NDC platform and some major airlines to speed up the adaptation. The study showed that the high cost of technological implementation is going to be one of the major barriers to complete switch to NDC system. As of now, the travel agents will be settling for GDS with NDC. Research limitations/implications: The adaptation by NDChas been slow especially by airlines. With IATA pushing the implementation, major airlines are slowly but surely adapting it as they can see the benefits they can derive. The customers too are benefiting from direct buying. The travel agencies in Oman especially small and medium-sized travel agencies are the ones who are most affected and there is not enough research being done to find what is stopping them from adapting. Social implications: The pandemic has devastated the travel industry overall. Many small and medium businesses have been forced to shut due to lockdowns. Further, the customers have got used to online shopping at a discounted and competitive price. Under such a scenario, it will take the travel agents some time to start enjoying the same levels of profit margins as the pre-pandemic days. This will have an impact on unemployment as well as the inability to meet loan commitments. This can have a ripple effect. Originality/Value: Few academic research has been carried out on NDC, especially in the Middle East. This research is the first of its kind which is dedicated to travel agents from Oman. The fact that NDC is set to revolutionize the shopping experience for the consumer one cannot ignore the fact that it is set to blow a dent in the revenues of the Travel agents

Future proofing of tourism entrepreneurship in Oman: challenges and prospects

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze the various factors that inhibit tourism student’s inclination toward tourism-related entrepreneurial activities in Oman. Design/methodology/approach - The study was conducted with 223 students of tourism studies who were selected on simple random sampling basis and were contacted through a well-defined questionnaire. Findings - The study reveals that the factors like non-discrimination of gender, promotion opportunities and physical working conditions play a crucial role in motivating students to take up tourism-related career. The empirical results also reveal that the high risk of accidents, non-tourism spouse preferences and Omani traditional values discourage tourism. Thus, a natural growth toward setting up of such tourism-related entrepreneurial activities is thwarted. Research limitations/implications - The study was restricted to undergraduate students of tourism studies in and around Muscat, Oman. The study could be extended to know the insight of the personnel involved in the entire tourism sector in Oman. Practical implications - The study demonstrates that there is a strong association between the motivating factors and the various reasons that encourage studying tourism. The main factors impeding entrepreneurship tourism are the insufficiency of capital, lack of awareness about the ongoing programmes as well as the lack of entrepreneurial skills. Social implications - There exists necessity for the government and the related sponsoring institutions to create an ecosystem that facilitates and encourages tourism entrepreneurs. This will in turn help in the process of diversifying Oman’s future economy toward tourism. Originality/value - Very few studies have examined the entrepreneurship tourism in Oman for sustainable development, and it is a first-hand study of its kind

Insignificant antifungal activity of plant extracts on Malassezia furfur

The aim of present study was to investigate the antimalassezial potential of the selected plant extracts known to possess medicinal values. Materials and Methods: The crude extracts of five botanicals were evaluated against Malassezia furfur. The dried and pulverized plant material was extracted with water and also successively extracted with hexane, chloroform, and methanol, using the Soxhlet apparatus. The antimicrobial activity assay was done by disk diffusion and 96-well plate microdilution method. Results: The results point toward the fact that all the tested extracts extracted in solvents of different polarities exhibited no antifungal activity. Conclusion: The tested extracts did not have, or had too little, antifungal activity to be used as a promising source of novel antimicrobial substances against M. furfur

Stromal Expression of CD10 in Breast Carcinoma and Its Association with Known Prognostic Factors—A Tissue Microarray-Based Study

Background Breast cancer is an epithelial malignancy; however, stroma plays a key role with its stimulatory and inhibitory factors in modulating tumor invasion and metastasis. CD10, a matrix metalloproteinase, is known to regulate cell adhesion, migration and helps in determining the progression of tumor. This knowledge helps to identify specific signals that promote growth, dedifferentiation, invasion, metastasis and serve as target for better therapeutic management. Objectives The aim of this study was to estimate frequency of expression of stromal CD10 and assess its prognostic significance in breast carcinomas by correlating with known prognostic factors. Materials and Methods Morphological parameters of 62 cases of carcinoma breast were studied on H&E (hematoxylin and eosin) stained sections and expressions of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2/neu), and CD10 on manually constructed tissue microarray sections by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Staining pattern, percentage of stained cells, and intensity of stains were evaluated and IHC scoring of all markers was done. CD10 scores were correlated with the known prognostic factors (ER, PR, and HER2/neu). A p-value less than 0.05 was considered as significant. Results Stromal expression of CD10 was found in 82.3% of cases and it was significantly associated with increasing tumor size (p = 0.012), increasing tumor grade (p = 0.001), lymph node metastasis (p = 0.018), necrosis (p = 0.008), lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.008), ER negativity (p = 0.001), PR negativity(p = 0.007), HER 2 positivity (p = 0.012), triple-negative molecular subtypes (p = 0.001), and poor prognostic groups (p = 0.01). Conclusion CD10 can be used as an independent prognostic stromal marker and this will help to envisage new therapeutic strategies

The cytology of giant solitary trichoepithelioma

Giant solitary trichoepithelioma (GST) is a rare trichogenic tumor, which may present as a pigmented lesion. An 80-year-old man was diagnosed to have giant solitary trichoepithelioma on fine-needle aspiration cytology. The cytological findings represented the histological features. The recognition of GST is important because of its close resemblance to basal cell carcinoma and other skin adnexal tumors - clinically, cytologically and histologically

The cytology of micropapillary variant of colloid carcinoma of breast: A report of two cases

Colloid carcinoma (pure mucinous carcinoma) is an uncommon variant of breast carcinoma with distinctive cytological and histological features. These tumors are characterised by islands of tumor cells floating in a sea of abundant extracellular mucin. We present the cytology of two cases of colloid carcinoma occurring in 80-year-old and 45-year-old females. The fine-needle aspiration cytology helps to subcategorize the tumor type, thereby enhancing the knowledge about the distinctive cytological features of special and uncommon variants of breast carcinoma, their course and prognosis. A distinctive micropapillary variant of pure mucinous carcinoma which is rarely described, is represented in one of the cases. Also we report, here, colloid carcinoma in a female of reproductive age, a relatively uncommon occurrence

Aggressive digital papillary adenocarcinoma diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology

Aggressive digital papillary adenocarcinoma is a rare variant of eccrine sweat gland malignancy with a propensity for metastases and recurrence. We report a 45-year-old female with aggressive digital papillary adenocarcinoma diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). The cytological findings were representative of the histological features. The recognition of aggressive digital papillary adenocarcinoma as a distinct clinicopathological eccrine sweat gland neoplasm is important because of the potential for aggressive local growth and distant metastasis. FNAC plays an important role in the preoperative diagnosis and management of these lesions

FNAC of Extra-Skeletal Ewing ' s Sarcoma of the Parotid Gland Case Report

ABSTRACT Extra-skeletal Ewing's sarcoma is a rare soft tissue malignant neoplasm, morphologically indistinguishable from skeletal Ewing's sarcoma. The usual sites of involvement are the soft tissues of para-vertebral region, chest wall, and lower extremity. Extra-skeletal Ewing's sarcoma is rare in the head and neck region and very few cases are reported in the parotid gland. The cytological features of a case of extra-skeletal Ewing's sarcoma involving the parotid gland, an extremely uncommon site for occurrence of this tumor, are reported here. The significance of the fine needle aspiration cytology lies in the early diagnosis and hence better prognosis of this lesion

Primary mucinous carcinoma of the skin: A rare tumor in the gluteal region

Primary mucinous carcinoma (PMC) of the skin is a rare adnexal tumor of sweat gland origin. A case report is presented of a 50-year-old female who presented with a gluteal mass, which was diagnosed as an injection abscess. Following incision and drainage, the incision site persisted as a non-healing ulcer. An edge biopsy of the lesion revealed mucinous carcinoma of the skin. Investigations excluded the possibility of a metastatic mucinous carcinoma. Thus, the lesion in the gluteal region was diagnosed as PMC of the skin, a rare site of occurrence