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Technology has become the driving force for both economic and social change. However, the recruitment of volunteers into the projects of non-profit-making organizations (NGO) does not usually make much use of information and communication technology (ICT). Organizations in this sector should incorporate and use digital platforms in order to attract the most well-prepared and motivated young volunteers. The main aim of this paper is to use an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to analyze the acceptance of a technological platform that provides a point of contact for non-profit-making organizations and potential volunteers. The TAM is used to find the impact that this new recruitment tool for volunteers can have on an ever-evolving industry. The TAM has been extended with the image and reputation and visual identity variables in order to measure the influence of these non-profit-making organizations on the establishment and implementation of a social network recruitment platform. The data analyzed are from a sample of potential volunteers from non-profit-making organizations in Spain. A structural equation approach using partial least squares was used to evaluate the acceptance model. The results provide an important contribution to the literature about communication in digital environments by non-profit-making organizations as well as strategies to improve their digital reputation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the factors which promote the adoption of cloud-based technology. It strives for a better understanding of the impact of corporate governance on the adoption of this technology. This study concentrated on executives in companies where the use of cloud computing may give a competitive advantage. The main contribution of this work is to propose a model for the influence of corporate governance and other factors that determine the adoption of this technology. A questionnaire was prepared after taking into consideration the reviewed literature. The sample consisted of 164 technology companies from Southern Spain that already use the new economic models for digital solutions. The methodology used to analyze the structural model was the Structural Equation Model (SEM). The results of the survey showed the influence of Corporate Governance and the procedures and practices of the organization on the adoption of cloud computing and the associated business model. This study aims to point out the importance of corporate support and Knowledge Management for the correct and successful adoption of this technology and to show the effects on the new business model of billing for the use of available resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Familial hypomagnesemia with hypercalciuria and nephrocalcinosis (FHHNC) is an autosomal recessive tubular disease caused by mutations in the CLDN16 or CLDN19 gene. Previous studies using microsatellite markers flanking the CLDN19 locus estimated that p.G20D (c.59G>A), a recurrent mutation in Spanish families, is a founder mutation. In the present study, we assessed the haplotype of Spanish patients using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)., Methods: Twenty-seven FHHNC patients were included in this study. We analyzed four SNPs located in CLDN19 introns 3 and 4 by polymerase chain reaction amplification and DNA sequencing., Results: Three new patients with homozygous p.G20D were identified. The SNP genotyping analysis showed that alleles carrying this mutation shared a common SNP haplotype., Conclusions: Our findings suggest the existence of a founder effect responsible for FHHNC in our cohort. Testing for the presence of mutation p.G20D should be the first genetic screening in Spanish patients.

Background: Dent's disease is characterized by low-molecular-weight proteinuria, hypercalciuria, nephrocalcinosis, nephrolithiasis, rickets and eventual renal failure. The disease is caused by mutations in the X-linked chloride channel CLCN5 gene, which encodes a 746-amino-acid protein expressed in renal tubules. These mutations have been reported in unrelated families from the UK, USA, Japan and other countries. We were interested in identifying additional mutations in the CLCN5 coding region of Spanish patients with Dent's disease., Methods: Five patients from three unrelated Spanish families were studied. Leukocyte genomic DNA from patients and their relatives was used with CLCN5-specific primers for polymerase chain reaction amplification of the coding region and exon-intron boundaries. Amplified products were analysed by single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis, DNA sequencing and restriction enzyme analysis., Results: Low-molecular-weight proteinuria and hypercalciuria were detected in all the patients, nephrocalcinosis in two patients, and rickets or osteopenia in three patients. We identified three new CLCN5 mutations consisting of two nonsense mutations, Leu433Stop and Arg718Stop, and an insertional frameshift mutation, 65insT, which results in a stop at codon 98. These three mutations predict truncated ClC-5 proteins that, respectively, lack 314, 649 and 28 amino acids at the carboxy terminus, and are likely to result in loss of function. These mutations were shown to co-segregate with the disease in each of the three families., Conclusions: Our study is the first to characterize mutations in the CLCN5 gene in Spanish patients with Dent's disease and expands the spectrum of CLCN5 mutations associated with this disease.