Russian Artistic Gymnastics as a Sports Tourism Product: Some Observations and a Research Agenda

Tourism and its importance to the Russian Federation are very much in the headlines at present. Considering the huge investment made in facilities for the Winter Olympics, the building of new sports facilities for such mega events as the Football World Cup, and the status of St Petersburg as a candidate city for the 2028 Olympics, it is clear that Russia has long term plans to attract visitors to their sporting events. The purpose of this paper is to develop a research agenda to explore the potential of artistic gymnastics, a sport in which the Russian Federation has excelled for many years, as an agent of tourism development. The paper will take a case study approach, considering the nature of fandom and identifying features of artistic gymnastics as cultural heritage and sports tourism product. The national and international environment within which it is set are examined, prior to the development of a research agenda. A detailed review of literature on the historic, current and emerging trends in Russian artistic gymnastics; the place of artistic gymnastics in tourism development and sports tourism in Russia will be carried out. The paper’s findings will include considerations of: • The nature of gymnastics fandom, both in Russia and internationally • The nature of sports tourism development in the Russian Federation • The nature of gymnastics as a sport and its competition cycle • Artistic gymnastics as cultural heritage, and its potential as an autonomous means of promoting Russian national identity • The relationship between Russia’s sometimes fading gymnastics competition results, and its potential to leverage the sport for tourism interest • The potential for tourism product development linked to artistic gymnastics in the Russian Federation. The paper contributes to the literature on the nature of sports tourism as it relates to artistic gymnastics in the Russian Federation in particular

Defective CFTR Expression and Function Are Detectable in Blood Monocytes: Development of a New Blood Test for Cystic Fibrosis

BACKGROUND: Evaluation of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) functional activity to assess new therapies and define diagnosis of cystic fibrosis (CF) is cumbersome. It is known that leukocytes express detectable levels of CFTR but the molecule has not been characterized in these cells. In this study we aim at setting up and validating a blood test to evaluate CFTR expression and function in leukocytes. DESCRIPTION: Western blot, PCR, immunofluorescence and cell membrane depolarization analysis by single-cell fluorescence imaging, using the potential-sensitive DiSBAC(2)(3) probe were utilized. Expression of PKA phosphorylated, cell membrane-localized CFTR was detected in non-CF monocytes, being undetectable or present in truncated form in monocytes derived from CF patients presenting with nonsense mutations. CFTR agonist administration induced membrane depolarization in monocytes isolated from non-CF donors (31 subjects) and, to a lesser extent, obligate CFTR heterozygous carriers (HTZ: 15 subjects), but it failed in monocytes from CF patients (44 subjects). We propose an index, which values in CF patients are significantly (p<0.001) lower than in the other two groups. Nasal Potential Difference, measured in selected subjects had concordant results with monocytes assay (Kappa statistic 0.93, 95%CI: 0.80-1.00). RESULTS AND SIGNIFICANCE: CFTR is detectable and is functional in human monocytes. We also showed that CFTR-associated activity can be evaluated in 5 ml of peripheral blood and devise an index potentially applicable for diagnostic purposes and both basic and translational research: from drug development to evaluation of functional outcomes in clinical trials