A multi-stage process utilizing one or more radiation sensors on a distributed network for the detection and identification of radiation, explosives, and special materials within a shipping container. A device for infusion or aspiration that comprises a drive assembly and a plurality of needles positioned within the drive assembly. The multiplexer is configurable to couple each one of the pair of first ports to a corresponding one of the pair of second ports when the pair of second ports are coupled to the dual ported disk drive and to couple both pair of first ports to a single one of the second ports when a single ported disk drive is coupled to said single one of the second ports. Acquisition attempts may be performed in a \u201cping-pong\u201d manner to improve the likelihood of acquisition. The Min-Sum decoder exchanges the message of variable nodes and check nodes iteratively and outputs a set of decode codewords according to the possibilities. The second side has a first portion and a second portion.