A system and method for examining a string of symbols and identifying portions of the string which match a predetermined pattern using adaptively weighted, partitioned context edit distances. Unique identifiers are assigned to each network node during a first scanning operation to uniquely identify each network node and each node’s installed software and hardware configurations. Additionally, substantial reductions in heavy metals and Ames biological activity can be achieved when the palladium salt solution is applied and processed in accordance with the present invention. In some embodiments, some of the wideband frequency ranges are above 30 MHz. Methods employing similar features and advantages are also disclosed herein.