Higher education branding: Nova School of Business and Economics and Bocconi University

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Improving tuberculosis control through the partnership between university and the health system

INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis (TB) control is linked to the availability of qualified methods for microbiological diagnostics; however, microscopy with limited sensitivity is the only method available in many locations. The objective of this study was to evaluate the introduction of culture, drug susceptibility testing (DST), and genotyping in the routine of a Municipal Program of Tuberculosis Control. METHODS: Direct microscopy of sputum and culture in Ogawa-Kudoh were performed on 1,636 samples from 787 patients. DST of positive cultures was performed by resazurin microtiter assay and genotyping by mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable number tandem repeat. RESULTS: A total 91 patients with TB were identified. The culture increased case detection by 32% compared with the microscopy; acquired resistance was 3.3% and the genotyping showed high genetic diversity. CONCLUSIONS: Ogawa-Kudoh contributed significantly to the increase in case detection and is suitable for implementation in poor-resource locations. The acquired resistance rate was lower than that reported in a recent Brazilian survey. The high genetic diversity is possibly related to the high TB prevalence in the population, as well as to early detection and suitable treatment of patients. The interaction between research and health care is important for reorienting the practice, transferring technology, and improving TB control.

Adaptação cultural e contributo para a validação da pain attitudes and believes scale for physiotherapists (PABS-PT) para a população de fisioterapeutas portugueses

RESUMO: Introdução: Vários estudos têm encontrado evidência para a relação entre as crenças e atitudes dos profissionais de saúde, a sua abordagem de tratamento, referida como orientada segundo o modelo biomédico ou modelo biopsicossocial (Bishop, 2008; Mutsaers, 2012), e os resultados obtidos. É sugerido que, no tratamento da dor lombar crónica, os profissionais que orientam o seu raciocínio e prática segundo o modelo biomédico, tendem a obter piores resultados quando comparados com os obtidos pelos profissionais que orientam o seu raciocínio e prática segundo uma abordagem biopsicossocial. Esta área de estudo tem salientado a importância de desenhar instrumentos capazes de identificar a orientação preferencial dos profissionais de saúde no tratamento da dor crónica de natureza músculo-esquelética, entre os quais se encontra a “Pain Attitudes and Beliefs Scale for Physiotherapists” (PABS-PT). Objetivo: Adaptar culturalmente a PABS-PT para a população de fisioterapeutas portugueses que intervêm em utentes com dor (lombar) crónica, e contribuir para a sua validação Metodologia: A versão original (língua inglesa) do PABS-PT foi adaptada para a língua e cultura portuguesas, através das etapas definidas nas normas orientadoras estabelecidas para este processo (Beaton et al., 2002; MAPI Institute, 2001). A avaliação das propriedades psicométricas da versão portuguesa foi realizada com recurso a uma amostra de 202 fisioterapeutas e estudantes finalistas do curso de licenciatura em Fisioterapia. Inicialmente foi realizada a análise fatorial exploratória da escala através do método das componentes principais. Posteriormente avaliou-se a consistência interna das componentes obtidas com recurso ao alpha de Cronbach (α). Para analisar a validade de constructo foram correlacionadas as componentes obtidas com a versão portuguesa da “Health Care Providers’ Pain and Impairment Relationship Scale” (HC-PAIRS), recorrendo ao cálculo do coeficiente de Spearman. Resultados: O processo de adaptação cultural não revelou dificuldades importantes sendo considerado que a versão portuguesa da PABS-PT é de fácil compreensão e preenchimento, e os seus itens adequados para avaliar as crenças e atitudes dos fisioterapeutas portugueses relativas à intervenção na dor crónica músculo-esquelética. Os resultados revelaram uma estrutura fatorial de duas componentes, identificadas com as componentes da escala original que explicam 30,96% da variância total. A consistência interna encontrada é boa, para a componente biomédica (α de Cronbach = 0,826), mas muito fraca para a componente biopsicossocial (α de Cronbach= 0,589). Relativamente à validade convergente e discriminativa, foi encontrada uma associação estatisticamente significativa e positiva, entre as componentes 1 (biomédica) da versão nportuguesa da PABS e a HC-PAIRS (Rs = 0,481, p≤ 0,005), e negativa, fraca e significativa entre a pontuação total da componente 2 (biopsicossocial) e a HC-PAIRS (Rs = -0,038, p=0,612). Conclusão: A versão portuguesa do PABS-PT é de fácil compreensão e aparenta ser um instrumento válido para a medição da orientação preferencial dos fisioterapeutas, relativamente às suas atitudes e crenças na avaliação e tratamento de utentes com dor crónica de natureza músculo-esquelética. No entanto, a componente biopsicossocial requer uma análise mais aprofundada para que possa, com rigor, ser utilizada na definição de uma orientação preferencialmente biopsicossocial.--------------ABSTRACT: Introduction: Previous studies have found a relation between the beliefs and attitudes of health professionals, their treatment approach, which can follows a biomedical or a biopsychosocial orientation (Bishop, 2008; Mutsaers, 2012), and the outcomes obtained. Therefore, is suggested that the professionals who tend to approach chronic low back pain patients according to the biomedical model have worse outcomes than professionals who use a biopsychosocial approach in there clinical reasoning. This research field has highlighted the importance of developing measures capable of identifying the preferred orientation of health professionals in the treatment of chronic pain of musculoskeletal nature, including the “Pain Attitudes and Beliefs Scale for Physiotherapists” (PABS-PT). Objective: To cross culturally adapt and validate the PABS-PT for the Portuguese population of physiotherapists. Methodology: The original version (English version) of the PABS-PT was adapted to the Portuguese language and culture, through the guidelines established for these processes (Beaton et al., 2002; MAPI Institute, 2001). The psychometric evaluation of the Portuguese version was carried out on a sample of 202 p physiotherapist and final year students of the physiotherapy course. Initially, an exploratory factorial analysis was performed through the method of the main components. Then, the internal consistence of the main components was evaluated using the Cronbach’s alpha (α). The convergent construct validity was analysed through the correlation between the obtained components of PABS-PT and the Health Care Provider’s Pain and Impairment Relationship Scale (HC-PAIRS), using the Spearmen correlation coefficient. Results: No major difficulties were found during the cultural adaptation process of PABS-PT to Portugal, which means that the Portuguese version is easy to understand and fulfill, and items are appropriated to evaluate the beliefs and attitudes of the Portuguese physiotherapists who treat chronic pain of musculoskeletal origins. The results revealed a factorial structure of two components, as the original scale, explaining 30,96% of the total variance. Internal consistence results were good, for the biomedical component (Cronbach’s α = 0,826), but very weak for the biopsychosocial componente (Cronbach’s α = 0,589). Relatively to convergent and discriminative validity, a statistically significant association was found, between the components 1 (biomedical) of the Portuguese version of PABS-PT and the HC-PAIRS (Rs= 0,481, p≤ 0,005) and negative, weak and significant between the total score of component 2 (biopsychosocial) and the HC-PAIRS (Rs = -0,038, p=0,612). Conclusion: The Portuguese Version of PABS-PT is easy to understand and seems to be a valid instrument to measure the attitudes and beliefs of physiotherapists in the management of patients with chronic low back pain. However, the biopsychosocial component requires a further deep analysis to examine a preferable biopsychosocial orientation.

Comparative study of lymphocytes from individuals that were vaccinated and unvaccinated against the pandemic 2009-2011 H1N1 influenza virus in Southern Brazil

ABSTRACTINTRODUCTION:While no single factor is sufficient to guarantee the success of influenza vaccine programs, knowledge of the levels of immunity in local populations is critical. Here, we analyzed influenza immunity in a population from Southern Brazil, a region with weather conditions that are distinct from those in the rest of country, where influenza infections are endemic, and where greater than 50% of the population is vaccinated annually.METHODS:Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from 40 individuals. Of these, 20 had received the H1N1 vaccine, while the remaining 20 were unvaccinated against the disease. Cells were stimulated in vitro with the trivalent post-pandemic influenza vaccine or with conserved major histocompatibility complex I (MHC I) peptides derived from hemagglutinin and neuraminidase. Cell viability was then analyzed by [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide)]-based colorimetric assay (MTT), and culture supernatants were assayed for helper T type 1 (Th1) and Th2-specific cytokine levels.RESULTS:Peripheral blood lymphocytes from vaccinated, but not unvaccinated, individuals exhibited significant proliferation in vitro in the presence of a cognate influenza antigen. After culturing with vaccine antigens, cells from vaccinated individuals produced similar levels of interleukin (IL)-10 and interferon (IFN)-γ, while those from unvaccinated individuals produced higher levels of IFN-γ than of IL-10.CONCLUSIONS:Our data indicate that peripheral blood lymphocytes from vaccinated individuals are stimulated upon encountering a cognate antigen, but did not support the hypothesis that cross-reactive responses related to previous infections can ameliorate the immune response. Moreover, monitoring IL-10 production in vaccinated individuals could comprise a valuable tool for predicting disease evolution.

How do global born companies ignite their internationalization and survive in international markets?

Over the last decades, the born global firms or the international new ventures (“INVs”) have assumed a growing role in international business, including in Portugal. The rise of this new type of multinational has challenged several theories concerning the development of multinational companies and the origin of companies’ competitive advantage. This qualitative, case-based research explores the most relevant traits shown by some Portuguese born-global firms. More concretely, the aim of this work is to compare some Portuguese international new ventures in order to understand the role of leadership, culture and strategy in their rapid internationalization and the source of their lasting competitive advantage. It was noticed that these firms’ lasting competitive advantage results from a singular combination of resources and dynamic capabilities that evolves over time. Moreover, it was found that these firms’ foreign subsidiaries and local networks may be essential to enhance the firms competitive advantage as it provides each firm a distinctive source of knowledge and capabilities. As a consequence, the effective assimilation of such resources and capabilities in these firms’ may become crucial for their lasting success. In addition, the leadership, strategy and culture in these firms seem to be quite aligned and form a quite virtuous cycle that contributed to the firms rapid internationalization and for the way the firms developed their own resources and dynamic capabilities and adapted to external environment.

Rényi entropy and the thermodynamic stability of black holes

Thermodynamic stability of black holes, described by the Rényi formula as equilibrium compatible entropy function, is investigated. It is shown that within this approach, asymptotically flat, Schwarzschild black holes can be in stable equilibrium with thermal radiation at a fixed temperature. This implies that the canonical ensemble exists just like in anti-de Sitter space, and nonextensive effects can stabilize the black holes in a very similar way as it is done by the gravitational potential of an anti-de Sitter space. Furthermore, it is also shown that a Hawking–Page-like black hole phase transition occurs at a critical temperature which depends on the q-parameter of the Rényi formula.

Development of Janus hydrogel microcapsules as novel biomaterials-stem cells construct for 3D co-culture applications

Co-cultures of two or more cell types and biodegradable biomaterials of natural origin have been successfully combined to recreate tissue microenvironments. Segregated co-cultures are preferred over conventional mixed ones in order to better control the degree of homotypic and heterotypic interactions. Hydrogel-based systems in particular, have gained much attention to mimic tissue-specific microenvironments and they can be microengineered by innovative bottom-up approaches such as microfluidics. In this study, we developed bi-compartmentalized (Janus) hydrogel microcapsules of methacrylated hyaluronic acid (MeHA)/methacrylated-chitosan (MeCht) blended with marine-origin collagen by droplet-based microfluidics co-flow. Human adipose stem cells (hASCs) and microvascular endothelial cells (hMVECs) were co-encapsulated to create platforms of study relevant for vascularized bone tissue engineering. A specially designed Janus-droplet generator chip was used to fabricate the microcapsules (<250â μm units) and Janus-gradient co-cultures of hASCs: hMVECs were generated in various ratios (90:10; 75:25; 50:50; 25:75; 10:90), through an automated microfluidic flow controller (Elveflow microfluidics system). Such monodisperse 3D co-culture systems were optimized regarding cell number and culture media specific for concomitant maintenance of both phenotypes to establish effective cell-cell (homotypic and heterotypic) and cell-materials interactions. Cellular parameters such as viability, matrix deposition, mineralization and hMVECs re-organization in tube-like structures, were enhanced by blending MeHA/MeCht with marine-origin collagen and increasing hASCs: hMVECs co-culture gradient had significant impact on it. Such Janus hybrid hydrogel microcapsules can be used as a platform to investigate biomaterials interactions with distinct combined cell populations.

O tratamento jornalístico que a RTP1 dá à Cultura: o caso do Telejornal

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Ciências da Comunicação (área de especialização em Informação e Jornalismo)

Los objetos técnicos y los organismos tecnificados. Reflexiones filosóficas, estéticas y políticas sobre la técnica. Technical objects and technified organisms. Philosophical, aesthetical and political approaches on technique

El presente proyecto se propone como parte inicial de una investigación sobre la relación entre naturaleza/cultura/técnica. Tradicionalmente la naturaleza y la cultura se han considerado como ámbitos diferenciados y opuestos. Y es en esta distinción donde la técnica adquiere un lugar central. El pensamiento occidental sobre la técnica ha recibido diversas interpretaciones: desde una subordinación con respecto al conocimiento verdadero (episteme) en la filosofía clásica, un optimismo sobre la técnica como posibilidad de dominación de la naturaleza en el Renacimiento y la Ilustración, y la ambigüedad y desasosiego romántico (Mitcham, 1979). Durante el siglo XX se distinguen dos posiciones antagónicas sobre la técnica. Por un lado, una actitud “crítica” donde pueden identificarse los trabajos de filósofs de diferentes tradiciones como Ortega y Gasset (1939), Heidegger (1954), Mumford (1971) Ellul (1960) y la Escuela de Frankfurt. Por otro lado, una filosofía de la técnica “ingenieril” que consiste en el análisis de la tecnología como un paradigma de pensamiento y acción humana. Esta dicotomía ha sido interpretada por Eco como “apocalípticos e integrados”. Más allá de las mencionadas diferencias, lo que tienen en común ambas posiciones es que parten de una dicotomía entre cultura y naturaleza. Nuestra perspectiva rechaza esta dicotomía, por el contrario, evidenciamos una creciente imbricación entre ambas donde las fronteras entre una y otra se hacen difusas. La noción de “objeto técnico” propuesta por Simondon (2007) hace referencia a la inserción del objeto técnico en la cultura, donde debe reconocerse la “realidad humana” presente en el mismo. Ahora bien, esto no significa “humanizar el objeto técnico”, sino más bien indagar sobre el lugar que este ocupa en la cultura como también establecer su relación con la naturaleza. En el siglo XVII el hombre mismo es reinterpretado como máquina (La Mettrie, 2000). En la actualidad pueden identificarse dos tendencias en la concepción de la técnica: los «humanos-máquinas» y las «máquinas-humanas», en otras palabras, la disposición del humano hacia la máquina y la tendencia de la máquina hacia lo humano. No obstante, ambas posiciones siguen manteniendo una distinción taxonómica entre el cuerpo –o lo orgánico- y lo maquínico, lo que implica una consideración de esta relación de manera extrínseca. Frente a esta tensión Haraway propone el concepto de cyborg: «un organismo cibernético» (1995). Los desarrollos tecnológicos han producido una modificación tal en la vida de los seres orgánicos en los cuales ya no puede concebirse su cuerpo independientemente de la tecnología. Esto conduce a replantear la distinción entre “animales/hombres/máquinas”, entendiendo a los mismos como expresiones de naturaleza, cultura y tecnología respectivamente. Nuestra investigación parte de la hipótesis que la técnica diluye diferencias de orden natural y cultural a través de los objetos técnicos que son productos culturales. La estética se ocupa de la percepción sensible del mundo no puede eludir su dimensión técnica. Al margen de la crítica a la “Industria cultural” consideramos relevante la aproximación de Benjamin al problema de la técnica porque aborda la imbricación antes mencionada en el campo de la percepción. Según Benjamin la irrupción de la técnica al mismo tiempo que posibilita una estetización de la política que confluye en el fascismo como punto extremo también abre la posibilidad de desmontar la ideología del progreso infinito (1967). Una integración entre aproximaciones estéticas y políticas a la técnica Flusser (1983) propone la “caja negra” como metáfora de la técnica contemporánea. Su propuesta es la “apertura de la caja negra” que consiste en tomar conocimiento del funcionamiento del dispositivo. Nuestra propuesta de investigación aborda la técnica desde una consideración filosófica/estética/política, donde redefiniremos la técnica partiendo de la imbricación entre cultura y naturaleza. This project will set the basis for a sustained research on the relation nature/culture/technique. They have been traditionally considered as separate and even opposite fields. And it is on the brink of this distinction where technique plays a central role. In Western thought technique has received many interpretations since the beginnings of philosophy: from a subordination to true knowledge (episteme) in classic philosophy, or the optimism which sees in technique the possibility of dominating nature in the Renaissance and in the Enlightenment, to the Romantic ambiguity and uneasiness towards technological change (Mitcham, 1979). During the twentieth century two opposed approach on technique prevail. On one hand, a “critical” attitude such defines the work of philosophers of different traditions such as Ortega y Gasset (1939), Heidegger (1954), Mumford (1971) Ellul (1960) and the Frankfurt School. On the other hand there is an “engineering” philosophy of technique that consists in the analisis of technology as a paradigm to understand human action and thought. Besides their differences, both positions have in common a dichotomy between nature and culture. We reject such dichotomy. On the contrary we consider there is a growing intertwinement between both which blurs the borders of the concepts. Simondon’s notion of “technical object” refers to the insertion of the technique in culture where the “human reality” in it must be recognised. This does not imply “humanising the technical object”, but investigate on the role it plays on culture and establishing its relation to nature. To articulate this relation we will work with unorthodox approaches on technique such as Benjamin (1967), Flusser (1983) and others. The hypothesis of our project is that the traditional distinction of “animal/man/machine” must be re-thought, therefore raising the question on the blurring line between nature, culture and technique and its effects in philosophy, politics and aesthetics.

Academic Institutions and the Olympic Movement

This paper was presented in the V Forum on Sport, Education and Culture Forum by the IOC undertaken in Beijing, in October, 2006. This aim of this paper is to explore the potential of the relations between the Olympic Movement and academic institutions, and in particular the role of universities.

The Cultural Olympiad of Barcelona in 1992: Good points and bad points. Lessons for the Future

This text was presented at the Symposium “Olympic Arts and Culture Festivals: Recent Experiences and Future Design”, held in Chicago on the 23-24 June 2008. It provides with an analysis of good and bad points of the Cultural Olympiad of Barcelona’92 in order to discover, from that past experience, any lessons for future Cultural Olympiads and Olympic Movement cultural policy in general, as well as to rethink, in a critical way, Catalan cultural policies.

Les juifs et l'idée de Bildung dans l'Allemagne de culture protestante : chronique d'un mésamour à travers le long XIXe siècle

Des années 1780, quand surgit la question de l'émancipation des juifs, à la Première Guerre mondiale, qui dément l'optimisme de la perfectibilité du genre humain cultivé par la Bildung, le « long » XIXe siècle est la scène sur laquelle se déploient les efforts d'intégration des juifs dans la société et la culture allemandes, où la Bildung, intimement liée à l'esprit du protestantisme allemand qui l'a profondément marquée de son empreinte, tient lieu de médiation. Fil conducteur de ma recherche, la Bildung me permet de montrer en quoi son idéal est devenu un élément constitutif de l'identité des juifs allemands, en même temps qu'il cesse, sous les effets de la nationalisation d'une culture allemande devenue un outil au service d'un peuple particulier, d'être le projet, certes d'une communauté donnée, mais porteur d'universalisme. De fait, tout en adhérant à sa définition originale, les juifs ont su réinterpréter l'idée de Bildung en désamorçant l'alliance entre culture, germanité et nationalisme, afin de construire une nouvelle identité judéo-allemande qui réponde aux enjeux et aux exigences de la modernité ainsi qu'aux évolutions du temps, tout en visant à la reconnaissance des valeurs et du statut du judaïsme. Dans la mesure où cet idéal de la Bildung, sous les coups du nationalisme allemand, a perdu sa portée universelle pour, dans un processus de germanisation, devenir un instrument au service du projet nationaliste, les juifs vont progressivement se voir exclus de la nation allemande, quand bien même ou précisément parce qu'ils se sont identifiés à tel point au projet initial de la Bildung qu'ils en sont devenus les garants. From the 1780s, when the question of the emancipation of the Jews emerged, until World War I-a disappointment for those who were optimistic about cultivating a perfected humanity through Bildung (education)-the "long" nineteenth century is the stage on which the efforts to integrate the Jews into German society and culture took place. In this context, Bildung, which was decidedly bound to and profoundly marked by the German Protestant spirit, served as mediation. The underlying theme of Bildung in my research enables me to show how its ideal became the constitutive element of German Jewish identity. Concurrently, under the effects of the nationalization of German culture that became a tool in the service of a specific folk, the ideal of Bildung ceased to be a project that conveyed universal meaning. In fact, although the Jewish people agreed with its original definition, they succeeded in reinterpreting the idea of Bildung by neutralizing the alliance between culture, being German, and nationalism in order to elaborate a new German-Jewish identity in reply to the challenges and requirements of modernity and the evolution of society while still recognizing the values and status of Judaism. Inasmuch as the ideal of Bildung lost its universal significance for serving the nationalist project under the influence of German nationalism, the Jews were gradually excluded from the German folk, which took place despite, or precisely because, they identified to such an extent with the original aims of Bildung that they became the guarantors for it. Das ,,lange" 19. Jahrhundert bildet die Kulisse der Integrationsbemühungen der Juden in die deutsche Gesellschaft und Kultur, von den 1780er Jahren, als die Frage nach der Judenemanzipation zutage kommt, bis zum Ersten Weltkrieg, der den Optimismus der menschlichen Verbesserungsfahigkeit durch die Bildung widerlegt. Die mit dem Geist des deutschen Protestantismus eng verbundene Bildung dient hier als Mediation. Der rote Faden der Bildung ermöglicht mir zu zeigen, inwiefern ihr Ideal wesentlich für die jüdische Identität geworden ist. Zur gleichen Zeit hat das Bildungsideal, unter der Wirkung der Nationalisierung der deutschen Kultur, die zum Werkzeug eines eigenartigen Volkes gemacht wurde, sein universales Wesen verloren. In der Tat, obwohl die Juden dem ursprünglichen Bildungsideal zustimmten, haben sie die Bildung neu interpretiert, indem sie die Verbindung zwischen Kultur, Germanentum und Nationalismus entschärft und eine neue deutsch-jüdische Identität gebildet haben, die den Herausforderungen und den Ansprüchen der Moderne sowie dem Gesellschaftswandel entsprach und gleichzeitig darauf abzielte, die Werte und den Status des Judentums zu anerkennen. Insoweit, als das Bildungsideal seine universale Geltung unter dem Einfluss des deutschen Nationalismus verloren hat, um den nationalistischen Absichten zu dienen, wurden die Juden nach und nach vom deutschen Volk ausgeschlossen, selbst wenn oder gerade weil sie sich dermassen mit dem ursprünglichen Zweck der Bildung identifiziert haben, dass sie ihre Garanten geworden sind.

Helicobacter pylori in dyspeptic children and adults: endoscopic, bacteriologic and histologic correlations

Using different bacteriological (urease test, Gram staining and culture) and histological (Steiner staining and modified Giemsa staining) techniques, we searched for the presence of Helicobacter pylori in the gastric antrum of 200 dyspeptic Brazilian patients (106 females and 94 males aged 19 days to 81 years). The presence of bacteria was then correlated with the endoscopic and histological findings. H. pylori was present in 59.5 of the population studied. In Brazil, colonization occurs early, involving 37 of the dyspeptic population by 20 years of age. The presence of H. pylori in the gastric antrum was strongly associated with duodenal ulcer (P < 0.001) and a normal endoscopic examination did not exclude the possibility of colonization of the gastric antrum by H. pylori. The most sensitive test was the preformed urease test (89). We conclude that more than one diagnostic method should preferably be used for the detection of H. pylori and that the presence of H. pylori is closely correlated with active chronic gastritis (P < 0.001).

Oxidative stress and inflammation response after nanoparticle exposure : differences between human lung cell monocultures and an advanced three-dimensional model of the human epithelial airways

Combustion-derived and manufactured nanoparticles (NPs) are known to provoke oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in human lung cells; therefore, they play an important role during the development of adverse health effects. As the lungs are composed of more than 40 different cell types, it is of particular interest to perform toxicological studies with co-cultures systems, rather than with monocultures of only one cell type, to gain a better understanding of complex cellular reactions upon exposure to toxic substances. Monocultures of A549 human epithelial lung cells, human monocyte-derived macrophages and monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MDDCs) as well as triple cell co-cultures consisting of all three cell types were exposed to combustion-derived NPs (diesel exhaust particles) and to manufactured NPs (titanium dioxide and single-walled carbon nanotubes). The penetration of particles into cells was analysed by transmission electron microscopy. The amount of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and the production of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-a and interleukin (IL)-8 were quantified. The results of the monocultures were summed with an adjustment for the number of each single cell type in the triple cell co-culture. All three particle types were found in all cell and culture types. The production of ROS was induced by all particle types in all cell cultures except in monocultures of MDDCs. The TAC and the (pro-)inflammatory reactions were not statistically significantly increased by particle exposure in any of the cell cultures. Interestingly, in the triple cell co-cultures, the TAC and IL-8 concentrations were lower and the TNF-a concentrations were higher than the expected values calculated from the monocultures. The interplay of different lung cell types seems to substantially modulate the oxidative stress and the inflammatory responses after NP exposure. [Authors]