Blockchain and Freedom to Conduct a Business: Between Myth and Reality

Recent advances in technology have demonstrated the enormous flexibility of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), whose potential goes well beyond the cryptocurrency trading. This article explores the potential impact that the utilization of a permissioned blockchain could have on listed companies and how this could be an appropriate instrument for a more effective implementation of the provisions of the Shareholder Rights Directive II. This technological infrastructure could attest the correct formation of will within the shareholders’ meeting and contribute to the creation of a truly democratic space for the meeting and discussion among shareholders, thus allowing achievement of freedom to conduct a business. However, the most advanced use of blockchain technology has a disruptive effect and exposes us to the great danger of an “algocratic” drift. Therefore, this article analyses the main critical issues from both a technical and legal viewpoint of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)

Blockchain and Freedom to Conduct a Business: Between Myth and Reality

Recent advances in technology have demonstrated the enormous flexibility of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), whose potential goes well beyond the cryptocurrency trading. This article explores the potential impact that the utilization of a permissioned blockchain could have on listed companies and how this could be an appropriate instrument for a more effective implementation of the provisions of the Shareholder Rights Directive II. This technological infrastructure could attest the correct formation of will within the shareholders’ meeting and contribute to the creation of a truly democratic space for the meeting and discussion among shareholders, thus allowing achievement of freedom to conduct a business. However, the most advanced use of blockchain technology has a disruptive effect and exposes us to the great danger of an “algocratic” drift. Therefore, this article analyses the main critical issues from both a technical and legal viewpoint of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)

Non-invasive Assessment of Fecal Stress Biomarkers in Hunting Dogs During Exercise and at Rest

Intense exercise causes to organisms to have oxidative stress and inflammation at the gastrointestinal (GI) level. The reduction in intestinal blood flow and the exercise-linked thermal damage to the intestinal mucosa can cause intestinal barrier disruption, followed by an inflammatory response. Furthermore, the adaptation to exercise may affect the gut microbiota and the metabolome of the biofluids. The aim of the present research was to evaluate the presence of a GI derangement in hunting dogs through a non-invasive sampling as a consequence of a period of intense exercise in comparison with samples collected at rest. The study included nine dogs that underwent the same training regime for hunting wild boar. In order to counterbalance physiological variations, multiple-day replicates were collected and pooled at each experimental point for each dog. The samples were collected immediately at rest before the training (T0), after 60 days of training (T1), after 60 days of hunting wild boar (T2), and finally, at 60 days of rest after hunting (T3). A number of potential stress markers were evaluated: fecal cortisol metabolites (FCMs) as a major indicator of altered physiological states, immunoglobulin A (IgA) as an indicator of intestinal immune protection, and total antioxidant activity [total antioxidant capacity (TAC)]. Since stool samples contain exfoliated cells, we investigated also the presence of some transcripts involved in GI permeability [occludin (OCLN), protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2)] and in the inflammatory mechanism [interleukin (IL)-8, IL-6, IL-1b, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF\u3b1), calprotectin (CALP), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1)]. Finally, the metabolome and the microbiota profiles were analyzed. No variation in FCM and IgA content and no differences in OCLN and CALP gene expression between rest and training were observed. On the contrary, an increase in PAR-2 and HO-1 transcripts, a reduction in total antioxidant activity, and a different profile of microbiota and metabolomics data were observed. Collectively, the data in the present study indicated that physical exercise in our model could be considered a mild stressor stimulus

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements