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The Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), a group organized by governance rules programmed on a blockchain, has recently been attracting attention as a novel organizational form. The effectiveness of a DAO’s decentralized governance mechanism and transparency, as secured by its code, has generally been discussed in contrast with traditional stock companies. However, the potential of a DAO for non-profits, which provide goods and services that profit-seeking organizations do not offer, has been less discussed. This paper presents a proof-of-concept implementation to demonstrate the advantages of utilizing a DAO governance framework for non-profits. To this end, this study developed a DAO governance framework incorporating a reputation-based decision-making system, a peer evaluation system, and a transparent, real-time accounting system for the Ethereum blockchain. Most current decentralized governance systems rely heavily on token-based voting using governance tokens with stock-like features. However, there is a need for a voting mechanism beyond token-based voting for non-profits, which do not have owners. Therefore, the developed application applies an existing reputation-based voting mechanism and integrates additional features, such as a membership system with mutual evaluation and a reputation NFT to visualize contributions. Several exemplar demonstrations were conducted to evaluate its key functionalities. This application enabled discussions across the boundary between technology and society in terms of the key aspects of non-profits: i) transparency of finance and governance, ii) participatory governance by diverse stakeholders, and iii) equity and inclusiveness of the consensus mechanism. The results indicated that blockchain technology compensates for a non-profit’s vulnerabilities, and illustrated that the proposed reputation-based governance mechanisms are well-motivated. However, the results also revealed that blockchain-based governance involves as many potential risks and limitations as it brings benefits. Lastly, by providing several possible solutions to these constraints as well as recommendations for future research, this paper contributes to the sustainable development of non-profits as one of the foundations of democratic governance.

Secretory carcinoma (SC) is a malignant salivary gland tumor that has been first reported by Skalova et al. in 2010. Histologically, it shows solidity infiltrated with very small cystic cavities and cribriform and papillary features and includes periodic acid-Schiff stain-positive, acid-fast secretions. The cells have oval nuclei, and vacuolated cytoplasm and foamy secretions are seen. Anaplasia is not strong and mitotic figures are rarely seen. These features closely resemble AciCC. Immunohistologically, it is thought to be positive for S-100 protein, vimentin, and mammaglobin and negative for DOG1. The presence of the ETV6-NTRK3 fusion gene is essential in diagnosing secretory carcinoma. In this report, we describe a case of SC in a 52-year-old woman. She was referred to our center because of a mass in left buccal mucosa. A soft and elastic submucosal mass measuring approximately 10 mm × 10 mm in size with a smooth surface was seen in the buccal mucosa in an area corresponding to the left mandibular canine to premolars. The imaging findings revealed that a high-intensity lesion was seen on T2-weighted images. Immunohistochemicalstaing for S-100 protein and vimentin were positive. Furthermore, genetic examination detected the presence of the ETV6-NTRK3 fusion gene. Based on these findings, the definitive diagnosis was secretory carcinoma.

Supplemental material, DISC850082_SupplementalFigs for Application of Ion Chromatography Coupled with Mass Spectrometry for Human Serum and Urine Metabolomics by Yuchen Sun, Kosuke Saito, Ryota Iiji and Yoshiro Saito in SLAS Discovery

Supplementary figures. Figure S1. The representative chromatograms of plasma obtained from rats treated with CCl4 and LS for 28Â days. Figure S2. The representative histologic sections of the livers obtained from rats treated with CCl4 (left) and LS (right) for 28Â days. Figure S3. Heat maps of the plasma lipid profiles of rats treated with CCl4, LS, AAF, DEN, and ETB for 28Â days. Figure S4. Heat maps of the plasma lipid profiles of rats treated with CCl4 and LS for 3 (pre-fibrotic stage) and 28 (post-fibrotic stage) days. (PPTX 626 kb)

Supplementary Results. (PDF 125 kb)

Supplementary Methods. (PDF 91 kb)