Convergence Transforms Internet

This paper discusses digital convergence from mobile device perspective. Convergence is viewed as a combination of device, radio, network and services convergence. Device convergence means that mobile devices become much more than a phone, they turn into a mobile computers. In radio convergence several standards are competing but wireless broadband is the end result and modem develops into a multiradio. From network convergence point of view different access technologies offer seamless connectivity and hide the network from end user with best possible performance. With service convergence mobile devices become true nodes of internet when devices are capable to act both as a client and a server. Device, radio, network and service convergence is resulting into a new use of internet. Tero Ojanperä is Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Nokia. Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications, expanding mobility into new areas such as imaging, games, entertainment, media and enterprises. Tero Ojanperä is responsible for corporate strategy and development, research, venturing, intellectual property rights, business infrastructure, quality and business improvement services. Tero has played a defining role in the research and development work of Nokia's business groups since joining the company in 1990. Throughout his career he has consistently shown an ability to balance the strong elements of his scientific background with Nokia's broader business strategies. Before being appointed to his current role, he headed Nokia Research Center (NRC) during 2002–2004. He is a highly respected industry commentator and author of the book “WCDMA for Third Generation Mobile Communications” (1998) and its second edition “WCDMA: Towards IP Mobility and Mobile Internet” (2001).He holds a master's of science degree from the University of Oulu, Finland and a PhD degree from Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands.     

Upconverting nanophosphors as reporters in a highly sensitive heterogeneous immunoassay for cardiac troponin I

Photon upconverting nanophosphors (UCNPs) have a unique capability to produce anti-Stokes emission at visible wavelengths via sequential multiphoton absorption upon infrared excitation. Since the anti-Stokes emission can be easily spectrally resolved from the Stokes' shifted autofluorescence, the upconversion luminescence (UCL) is a highly attractive reporter technology for optical biosensors and biomolecular binding assays – potentially enabling unprecedented sensitivity in separation-based solid-phase immunoassays.     

Word problem for deterministic and reversible semi-Thue systems

We prove that the word problem for semi-Thue systems is undecidable for systems where the derivation is always deterministic and reversible for words containing a single occurrence of a letter from a given set.     

Visibility in ghost imaging with classical partially polarized electromagnetic beams

We consider classical second-order ghost imaging with uniformly partially polarized electromagnetic beams and examine the effect of the degree of polarization of the incident light on the visibility of the image. Closed-form expressions for two previously proposed definitions of visibility are derived. Both results are physically similar and show that the visibility increases with the degree of polarization. Hence, a polarized beam is superior to an unpolarized one to obtain a high-visibility ghost image. Some related issues in recent literature are also addressed.     

Advances in Artificial Cell Membrane Systems as a Platform for Reconstituting Ion Channels

An artificial cell membrane that is composed of bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs) with transmembrane proteins incorporated within them represents a well‐defined system for the analysis of membrane proteins, especially ion channel proteins that are major targets for drug design. Because the BLM system has a high compatibility with recently developed cell‐free expression systems, it has attracted attention as a next‐generation drug screening system. However, three issues associated with BLM systems, i. e., their instability, the need for non‐volatile organic solvents and a low efficiency of ion channel incorporation, have limited their use as a drug screening platform. In this personal account, we discuss our recent approaches to address these issues based on microfabrication. We also discuss the potential for using the BLM system combined with cell‐free expression systems as a drug screening system for future personalized medicine.     

Quantitative detection of well-based DNA array using switchable lanthanide luminescence

In this report a novel wash-free method for multiplexed DNA detection is demonstrated employing target specific probe pairs and switchable lanthanide luminescence technology on a solid-phase array. Four oligonucleotide capture probes, conjugated at 3′ to non-luminescent lanthanide ion carrier chelate, were immobilized as a small array on the bottom of a microtiter plate well onto which a mix of corresponding detection probes, conjugated at 5′ to a light absorbing antenna ligand, were added. In the presence of complementary target nucleic acid both the spotted capture probe and the liquid-phase detection probe hybridize adjacently on the target. Consequently the two non-luminescent label molecules self-assemble and form a luminescent mixed lanthanide chelate complex. Lanthanide luminescence is thereafter measured without a wash step from the spots by scanning in time-resolved mode. The homogeneous solid-phase array-based method resulted in quantitative detection of synthetic target oligonucleotides with 0.32 nM and 0.60 nM detection limits in a single target and multiplexed assay, respectively, corresponding to 3× SD of the background. Also qualitative detection of PCR-amplified target from Escherichia coli is described.