Abstract: Methods are provided for connecting two dissimilar materials. The methods can include: placing a first material within a groove of a second material, the first material leaving at least a portion of the groove vacant; and placing a third material upon the first material and over the groove; heating the second and third materials to a temperature sufficient to plasticize the second and third materials within the groove and form a mixture of the second and third materials within the groove. Friction stir welding tools are also provided that can include a frusta conical tip having an upper portion defining smooth sidewalls and a lower portion defining a roughened structure.

Abstract: Systems and methods are described for providing updating of disk images supporting serverless code execution and controlled deployment of updated disk images. A disk image can be defined as a set of layers that represent a file system include code of a serverless function and other data used by the code. A function owner can designate one layer as containing software or other data subject to update. When a new version of the layer is obtained at a serverless compute system, the system can generate a new disk image containing the updated layer. The system can then gradually transition the function to the new disk image, by dividing calls to the function among two versions of the function—one using the prior disk image, and one using the new disk image. Performance data gained from the new version of the function can be used to control the gradual transition.

Abstract: Systems and methods are described for providing secure storage of data sets while enabling efficient deduplication of data. Each data set can be divided into fixed-length blocks. The plaintext of each block can be convergently encrypted, such as by using a hash of the plaintext as an encryption key, to result in block-level ciphertext that can be stored. If two data sets share blocks, the resulting block-level ciphertext can be expected to overlap, and thus duplicative block-level ciphertexts need not be stored. A manifest can be created to facilitate re-creation of the data set, which manifest identifies the block-level ciphertexts of the data set and a key by which each block-level ciphertext was encrypted. By use of block-level encryption, nearly identical data sets can be largely deduplicated, even if they are not perfectly identical.

Abstract: Systems and methods are described for providing storage of encrypted data sets, deduplication of such data sets, and control of the redundancy of those data sets. A form of modified convergent encryption can be employed, whereby an encryption key for a data set is selected based on a combination of the plaintext of the data set and a salt value, with the salt value being selected from a number of permutations corresponding to a desired redundancy of the data set in a storage system. Accordingly, a given data set can result in a number of ciphertexts equal to the desired redundancy, and deduplication can occur by removing duplicative instances of individual ciphertexts. Salt values can be selected according to a variety of criteria, including user-based, time-based, and location-based criteria.

Abstract: Systems and methods are described for providing secure storage of data sets while enabling efficient deduplication of data. Each data set can be divided into fixed-length blocks. The plaintext of each block can be convergently encrypted, such as by using a hash of the plaintext as an encryption key, to result in block-level ciphertext that can be stored. If two data sets share blocks, the resulting block-level ciphertext can be expected to overlap, and thus duplicative block-level ciphertexts need not be stored. A manifest can be created to facilitate re-creation of the data set, which manifest identifies the block-level ciphertexts of the data set and a key by which each block-level ciphertext was encrypted. By use of block-level encryption, nearly identical data sets can be largely deduplicated, even if they are not perfectly identical.

Abstract: Systems and methods are described for providing storage of encrypted data sets, deduplication of such data sets, and control of the redundancy of those data sets. A form of modified convergent encryption can be employed, whereby an encryption key for a data set is selected based on a combination of the plaintext of the data set and a salt value, with the salt value being selected from a number of permutations corresponding to a desired redundancy of the data set in a storage system. Accordingly, a given data set can result in a number of ciphertexts equal to the desired redundancy, and deduplication can occur by removing duplicative instances of individual ciphertexts. Salt values can be selected according to a variety of criteria, including user-based, time-based, and location-based criteria.

Abstract: Methods are provided for connecting two dissimilar materials. The methods can include: placing a first material within a groove of a second material, the first material leaving at least a portion of the groove vacant; and placing a third material upon the first material and over the groove; heating the second and third materials to a temperature sufficient to plasticize the second and third materials within the groove and form a mixture of the second and third materials within the groove. Friction stir welding tools are also provided that can include a frusta conical tip having an upper portion defining smooth sidewalls and a lower portion defining a roughened structure.

Abstract: A computing system for managing a plurality of resources in an enterprise is disclosed. The computing system includes a monitoring one or more attributes of at least one communication session between at least one customer and at least one resource of the plurality of resources. The system further includes a database for storing the one or more monitored attributes. The system further includes a computing module for computing a contact time parameter for each of the at least one resource of the plurality of resources based on the one or more stored attributes. The system further includes an agent selection module for selecting at least one resource from the plurality of resources based on the computed contact time parameter. The system further includes a routing module for routing the at least one communication session to the at least one selected resource.

Abstract: A software application stored in a memory in a mobile device for selectively blocking data transmission via a mobile device over a communication network, comprising means for identifying a software application of interest from among a plurality of software applications stored in a memory of the mobile device, means for determining a categorization of the software application of interest based on data provided over the communication network from a database, and means for selectively restricting transmission of data to or from the software application of interest over the communication network based on the determined categorization, wherein personally identifiable information is prevented from being transmitted by the software application of interest if the determined categorization indicates that transmission of date to or from the software application of interest is to be restricted.

Abstract: Embodiments may comprise logic such as hardware and/or code to provide a secure device area network. Many embodiments comprise a gateway node or enterprise enhanced node with a services distribution frame installed on a customer's premises. The gateway node or enterprise enhanced node may interconnect the secure wireless device area network at the customer's premises with a cellular network. In many embodiments, the cellular network core may provision authentication credentials and security keys, and manage access polies to facilitate access by Application Service Providers to devices on premises including smart devices via a security and policy enforcement function of a services distribution frame of the gateway node or enterprise enhanced node, Authorized members of the secure wireless device area network may connect to the Wide Area Network (WAN) through the gateway node and the cellular network core.

Abstract: A software system stored in a memory in a mobile device for preventing access to software applications, said mobile device containing a plurality of software applications, the software system comprising means for allowing a first user to toggle the mobile device between a regular mode and a safe mode; means for identifying, based on information received over a communications network or based on selections by the first user, one or more of the software applications as restricted software applications and one or more of the software applications as safe software applications; means for preventing a second user different from the first user from accessing the restricted software applications while the mobile device operates in the safe mode by displaying a safe mode desktop that excludes icons for the restricted software applications; and means for allowing the first user to access the restricted software applications by displaying a regular desktop having icons for both the restricted software applications and

Abstract: Embodiments may comprise logic such as hardware and/or code to provide a secure device area network. Many embodiments comprise a gateway node or enterprise enhanced node with a services distribution frame installed on a customer's premises. The gateway node or enterprise enhanced node may interconnect the secure wireless device area network at the customer's premises with a cellular network. In many embodiments, the cellular network core may provision authentication credentials and security keys, and manage access polies to facilitate access by Application Service Providers to devices on premises including smart devices via a security and policy enforcement function of a services distribution frame of the gateway node or enterprise enhanced node, Authorized members of the secure wireless device area network may connect to the Wide Area Network (WAN) through the gateway node and the cellular network core.

Abstract: Apparatus for microbial disruption, comprises a cylindrical transducer having a beatconducting, solid transmission layer disposed along at least a part of the inner longitudinal surface thereof, said transmission layer or said transducer and transmission layer defining a channel for receipt of a liquid sample, and means capable of delivering an alternating potential to said transducer at a frequency and voltage exciting resonance and inducing cavitation in said liquid sample.

Abstract: Apparatus for detecting particles in a liquid, comprises an evanescent optical sensor having an electrically conducting layer, and means associated therewith for providing an electric field at or adjacent the sensor surface. Preferably, the optical sensor is a surface bound sensor based on a metal-clad leaky waveguide structure. A DC potential applied to the metal layer and a parallel counter electrode provides a uniform electric field, which drives deposition of the particles on the sensor surface. Alternatively, an alternating potential applied to a electrically conducting layer configured as an electrode and counter electrode induces an electro-osmotic bulk flow in the liquid which drives deposition of the particles on the sensor surface.

Abstract: There is disclosed apparatus for directing particles entrained in a fluid, comprising a chamber having a first wall, including means for generating a sound wave having a frequency v, and a second, opposite wall capable of reflecting the sound wave in which the first and second wall define a conduit for the passage of the fluid, and in which the thickness of the second wall is such that the path length of the standing wave in the second wall is a multiple of about ½ the wavelength ?r of the sound wave therein.