Entorno de información y gestión para el alumnado de la ETSII

El “Entorno de información y gestión para el alumnado de la ETSII” es una herramienta que permite la consulta de los datos más relevantes en el día a día de un alumno y realizar tareas simples pero de uso frecuente. El sistema se compone de dos partes, una aplicación web y una aplicación móvil para dispositivos Android. La aplicación web se encarga de leer los datos de entrada a partir de distintos archivos con extensión .csv y los almacena en una base de datos MySQL, mientras que la aplicación móvil recibe esos datos mediante servicios REST y ejecuta toda la funcionalidad con los mismos. El conjunto de funcionalidades que ofrece la aplicación requieren la autenticación en la misma a través de una cuenta de usuario en Google. El sistema además permite la generación de los horarios del alumno, adición de los exámenes al calendario personal del usuario, consulta de datos del profesorado, concertado de tutorías, asistente de matriculación y consulta del calendario lectivo de la titulación correspondiente. Con todo ello se pretende agilizar la consulta de datos relevantes de uso frecuente por parte del alumnado de la E.T.S. de Ingeniería Informática en la web del centro, el campus virtual y la DUMA.

Behavioral traits predicting cocaine-conditioned place reference in mice: role of anxiety adn the basolateral amygdala

Aims. The individual susceptibility to cocaine addiction, a factor of interest in the understanding and prevention of this disorder, may be predicted by certain behavioral traits. However, these are not usually taken into account in research, making it difficult to identify whether they are a cause or a consequence of drug use. Methods. Male C57BL/6J mice underwent a battery of behavioral tests (elevated plus maze, hole-board, novelty preference in the Y maze, episodic-like object recognition memory and forced swimming test), followed by a cocaine-conditioned place preference (CPP) training to assess the reinforcing effect of the drug. In a second study, we aimed to determine the existence of neurobiological differences between the mice expressing high or low CPP by studying the number of neurons in certain addiction-related structures: the medial prefrontal cortex, the basolateral amygdala and the ventral tegmental area. Results. Anxiety-like behaviors in the elevated plus maze successfully predicted the cocaine-CPP behavior, so that the most anxious mice were also more likely to search for cocaine in a CPP paradigm. In addition, these mice exhibited an increased number of neurons in the basolateral amygdala, a key structure in emotional response including anxiety expression, without differences in the others regions analyzed. Conclusions. Our results suggest a relevant role of anxiety as a psychological risk factor for cocaine vulnerability, with the basolateral amygdala as potential common neural center for both anxiety and addiction.

Effects of palmitoylethanolamide in cocaine-induced behaviours

Aims. Cocaine addiction is a chronically relapsing disorder characterized by the compulsion to seek and take the drug. Previous investigations have demonstrated that several drugs of abuse, as cocaine, can alter the levels of lipid-based signalling molecules such as the N-acylethanolamines (NAEs). In addition, NAEs levels in the brain are sensitive to cocaine self-administration and extinction training. In this context, this study aimed to investigate the effect of repeated and acute palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), an endogenous NAE, on the behavioural effects of cocaine using mouse models of conditioned reward and psychomotor activation. Methods. Using male C57BL/6J mice, the ability of repeated PEA injections (1 or 10 mg/kg i.p) to modulate the development of a conditioned place preference (CPP) and behavioural sensitization (BS) induced by cocaine (20 mg/kg i.p.) was evaluated. In addition, the expression of cocaine-induced CPP and BS after acute PEA administration was also studied. Results. PEA (1 and 10 mg/kg i.p) significantly reduced the development of cocaine-induced BS, but did not modify the acquisition of cocaine-induced CPP. Furthermore, both doses of PEA were able to reduce the expression of BS and CPP. Conclusions. Altogether, these findings show that exogenous administration of PEA attenuated psychomotor activation and impaired the expression of CPP induced by cocaine. Our results may be relevant in order to understand the role of NAEs in the development and treatment of cocaine addiction.