Passive Storage Research Articles

The Suppression Mechanisms of Passive Memory in Visual Working Memory: The Evidence from Electrophysiology.

Recent studies of visual working memory (VWM) underscore a structured hierarchy of storage states. Memories that are not immediately relevant to the task at hand but are essential for later use are transferred to a passive state, which operates independently of actively maintaining and manipulating current memories. Note that stimulating passive memory forcefully can reactivate it into an active state, resulting in a competition with active memory. Thus, to remain stable representations for both states within VWM, passive memory might involve sustained suppression during activity-silent maintenance to prevent reactivation from disrupting the current active storage. To investigate this, we analyzed lateralized electrophysiology signals while human participants (both women and men) were engaged in a sequential presentation memory task across two experiments. The results revealed positive contralateral delayed activity components and lateralized alpha enhancement for passive memory, neural indicative of suppression on passive storage. In addition, the suppression effect was independent of the memory load in both the active and the passive states. These findings support the notion of sustained suppression during activity-silent maintenance of passive memory, facilitating the stable maintenance of distinct storage states and advancing our understanding of the dynamic coding framework in VWM.

Defining Sustainable Priorities and Actions for Storage of a Public Archive: A UK Case Study

ABSTRACT Storage facilities often comprise the most energy-intensive burden within archives. One green solution is a passive building with high thermal inertia and airtightness, to create stable environmental conditions without mechanical intervention, and provide appropriate temperature and RH ranges and good air quality for preservation. However, where airtightness is concerned, there is potential for accumulation of pollutants within densely occupied repositories such as library and archive stores. This risk is not addressed by current requirements for greener operation, because operational conflicts arise when balancing these three environmental parameters. This article discusses air quality and its effects on archive materials. It contributes to better understanding of green operation for archives. It presents a preliminary study carried out at Norfolk Record Office in the UK on options to increase archives storage capacity whilst improving both public access and preservation. This concluded that an initial programme to replace low-quality packaging which is a generator of VOCs, and the building of on-site passive storage, were the most sustainable solutions.

The phonological store of working memory: A critique and an alternative, perceptual-motor, approach to verbal short-term memory.

A key quality of a good theory is its fruitfulness, one measure of which might be the degree to which it compels researchers to test it, refine it, or offer alternative explanations of the same empirical data. Perhaps the most fruitful element of Baddeley and Hitch's (1974) Working Memory framework has been the concept of a short-term phonological store, a discrete cognitive module dedicated to the passive storage of verbal material that is architecturally fractionated from perceptual, language, and articulatory systems. This review discusses how the phonological store construct has served as the main theoretical springboard for an alternative perceptual-motor approach in which serial-recall performance reflects the opportunistic co-opting of the articulatory-planning system and, when auditory material is involved, the products of obligatory auditory perceptual organisation. It is argued that this approach, which rejects the need to posit a distinct short-term store, provides a better account of the two putative empirical hallmarks of the phonological store-the phonological similarity effect and the irrelevant speech effect-and that it shows promise too in being able to account for nonword repetition and word-form learning, the supposed evolved function of the phonological store. The neuropsychological literature cited as strong additional support for the phonological store concept is also scrutinised through the lens of the perceptual-motor approach for the first time and a tentative articulatory-planning deficit hypothesis for the "short-term memory" patient profile is advanced. Finally, the relation of the perceptual-motor approach to other "emergent-property" accounts of short-term memory is briefly considered.

Working memory capacity in naturally cycling women and oral contraceptive users

IntroductionMiyake and Friedman’s model (2012) presents three core executive functions: inhibition, updating and shifting. Updating refers to working memory (WM) because it involves passive storage but also active manipulation of information. According to a review by Hampson (2018), the literature is consistent on the fact that 17b-estradiol (the most prevalent type of estrogen in women of reproductive age) is associated with improved WM. Levels of estradiol are at their highest in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. The use of OC is linked with a noticeable decrease in levels of estradiol and progesterone (Hampson, 2020). Nevertheless, combined OC contain synthetic steroids, usually ethinylestradiol and progestins which can be androgenic or anti-androgenic. Androgenic progestins are derived from testosterone while anti-androgenic progestins block androgen receptors (Raudrant & Rabe, 2003). The review by Beltz (2022) concluded that the use of androgenic OC is linked to an enhanced performance in spatial WM whereas anti-androgenic OC are linked with an impaired performance. When it comes to verbal WM, OC use is related to an enhancement in performance, irrespective of androgenicity.ObjectivesTo measure the differences in WM capacity between NC women and OC users at two times points in one menstrual cycle (follicular and luteal phases for NC women).Methods78 women (18-45; M= 28.93, SD=6.81), including one group of NC women (N=40) and one group taking OC (N=38), were tested twice over the course of one menstrual cycle. The NC women were tested during their follicular and luteal phases while the OC users were tested during the active phase of their OC. They completed an automated version of the Operation Span task (OSPAN; Unsworth et al., 2005). The OSPAN task involves completing simple math problems while simultaneously trying to remember a series of randomly generated letters.ResultsThere was no difference in WM capacity between NC women and OC users. However, we found a significant difference in the number of math errors (speed or accuracy) made by NC women. The number of math errors was higher (M=5.12) during the luteal phase than during the follicular phase (M=2.68). Moreover, we also found a significant difference in the number of math errors made by OC users (M=4.00) and NC women (M=2.68) in their follicular phase. The difference disappeared when the OC users were compared to NC women in their luteal phase.ConclusionsWe found no difference in WM capacity between NC women and OC users. However, we found that NC women made more math errors during the luteal phase than during the follicular phase and that OC users made more errors than NC women in their follicular phase. The follicular phase has an increased level of estradiol whereas OC users experience a decrease in their levels of estradiol. Estradiol levels could be linked with math performance.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Distributed computing with the cloud

We investigate the effect of omnipresent cloud storage on distributed computing. To this end, we specify a network model with links of prescribed bandwidth that connect standard processing nodes, and, in addition, passive storage nodes. Each passive node represents a cloud storage system, such as Dropbox, Google Drive etc. We study a few tasks in this model, assuming a single cloud node connected to all other nodes, which are connected to each other arbitrarily. We give implementations for basic tasks of collaboratively writing to and reading from the cloud, and for more advanced applications such as matrix multiplication and federated learning. Our results show that utilizing node-cloud links as well as node-node links can considerably speed up computations, compared to the case where processors communicate either only through the cloud or only through the network links. We first show how to optimally read and write large files to and from the cloud in general graphs using flow techniques. We use these primitives to derive algorithms for combining, where every processor node has an input value and the task is to compute a combined value under some given associative operator. In the special but common case of “fat links,” where we assume that links between processors are bidirectional and have high bandwidth, we provide near-optimal algorithms for any commutative combining operator (such as vector addition). For the task of matrix multiplication (or other non-commutative combining operators), where the inputs are ordered, we present tight results in the simple “wheel” network, where procesing nodes are arranged in a ring, and are all connected to a single cloud node.

Flexibility potential quantification and regulation measure comparison for the building air-conditioning system

Air-conditioning (AC) systems are the resources with the greatest flexibility potential for building demand response (DR). However, there is no unified method to quantify its flexibility under different DR measures, which results in difficulties in fully utilizing the DR potential and determining a proper regulation measure for the AC system operation strategies. To bridge this gap, the indicators of energy flexibility and power flexibility are firstly proposed in this study to compare three measures, active storage, passive storage, and temperature resetting, during the DR process of AC systems. According to the regulation measures with quantified flexibility potentials, different DR regulation measures are combined to explore the maximized stack flexibility. Based on a case study of an office building in Tianjin, the results show that among the different stacking strategies, stacking the active energy storage and temperature reset strategies produces the lowest operating cost, which is 13.8% and 22.5% lower than the stacking all three measures’ operating cost and total energy consumption, respectively. In the case of stacking the two measures, the highest energy flexibility is achieved when stacking the active and passive energy storage measure. If the temperature reset measure is further stacked, the energy flexibility can be increased by 15%.

Microbial Culture Collections and Microbiological Biobanks in the Context of New ISO Standards

Abstract In order to meet the growing needs of the world economy for biotechnology, culture collections must transform the way they operate from passive storage of microbial resources to active microbial resource centers whose services should go beyond the provision of microbes. The protection and conscious use of microorganisms aims to co-create a strategy for responsible and sustainable development, based on expert knowledge. This article deals with the subject of the recently developed panel of biobank-specific standards and the requirements that must be met by culture collections to transform into modern microbial biobanks.

Technical and technological capacity of waste disposal in the regions of Ukraine

Active processing – incineration and utilization (mechanical and biological treatment), along with passive storage of inert residues in specially designated areas, are the most commonly used waste management techniques in Ukraine. According to European standards, these technologies carry environmental risks to some extent and do not belong to full-fledged recycling. Significant amounts of accumulated and generated waste determine the regional economic capacity that can be used for the introduction of recycling technologies. The article aims to conduct a feasibility study on waste processing in Ukraine, given the regional capacity for the development of recycling technologies. To reach this goal, the following tasks were solved: to analyze the existing technologies for processing household and similar waste and to carry out their economic evaluation; identify areas for innovative development of regional waste management systems in the near future. The analysis of technologies of household and similar waste processing existing in Ukraine is carried out. The article emphasizes that there are a number of problems with their functionality. Emphasis is placed on the availability of powerful raw materials for recycling. The following main problems of waste disposal sites are outlined: lack of their certification due to non-compliance with current standards and continued accumulation of waste despite the exhaustion of service life; voluntary decisions to close technogenic risk landfills; finding alternative ways of waste management. A comparative ecological and economic assessment of waste processing technologies is carried out. The use of innovative technologies of waste incineration through reconstruction and equipping of processing plants with modern combustion and filtration systems of exhaust gases to minimize environmental risks is relevant for the development of waste management systems.

Effects of passive-storage conceptualization on modeling hydrological function and isotope dynamics in the flow system of a cockpit karst landscape

Abstract. Conceptualizing passive storage in coupled flow–isotope models can improve the simulation of mixing and attenuation effects on tracer transport in many natural systems, such as catchments or rivers. However, the effectiveness of incorporating different conceptualizations of passive storage in models of complex karst flow systems remains poorly understood. In this study, we developed a coupled flow–isotope model that conceptualizes both “fast-flow” and “slow-flow” processes in heterogeneous aquifers as well as hydrological connections between steep hillslopes and low-lying depression units in cockpit karst landscapes. The model tested contrasting configurations of passive storage in the fast- and slow-flow systems and was optimized using a multi-objective optimization algorithm based on detailed observational data of discharge and isotope dynamics in the Chenqi Catchment in southwestern China. Results show that one to three passive-storage zones distributed in hillslope fast-/slow-flow reservoirs and/or depression slow-flow reservoirs provided optimal model structures in the study catchment. This optimization can effectively improve the simulation accuracy for outlet discharge and isotope signatures. Additionally, the optimal tracer-aided model reflects dominant flow paths and connections of the hillslope and depression units, yielding reasonable source area apportionment for dominant hydrological components (e.g., more than ∼ 80 % of fast flow in the total discharge) and solute transport in the steep hillslope unit of karst flow systems. Our coupled flow–isotope model for karst systems provides a novel, flexible tool for more realistic catchment conceptualizations that can easily be transferred to other cockpit karst catchments.

Optimal predictive control of phase change material-based energy storage in buildings via mixed-integer convex programming

This paper describes a mixed-integer convex programming-based control strategy to optimize the operation of phase change material-based energy storage integrated in building supply ducts. To improve the numerical feasibility, the original nonlinear control problem is pre-conditioned and transformed to a mixed-integer convex program through convexification of the cooling system control model, mixed-integer reformulation of the phase change material dynamics and discretization of the supply airflow. The overall control framework was leveraged toward development of two model predictive control strategies to optimally charge/discharge the phase change material storage, through supply air temperature reset, and the building passive thermal mass, via scheduling of the zone air temperature setpoint. These strategies were tested and compared to two baseline control strategies using a simulation case study over three summer days. Test results show that using the phase change material energy storage alone, energy cost savings of 2.9% and peak demand reduction of 46.7% could be achieved, compared to a conventional fixed-supply air temperature and zone air temperature night setup control strategy; when both the active (phase change material) and passive (building thermal mass) storage capacities are utilized, the savings potentials could increase to 8.4% for the energy cost and 65% for the demand charge. • Integration of PCM energy storage in supply ducts is effective in reducing demand. • Predictive control of PCM storage offers significant utility cost savings potential. • Charging/discharging of PCM thermal storage results in efficiency losses. • Combining active and pass storage can provide the maximum load shifting potential.

Cenosphere-based PCM microcapsules with bio-inspired coating for thermal energy storage in cementitious materials

Phase change materials (PCMs) provide passive storage of thermal energy in buildings to flatten heating and cooling load profiles and minimize peak energy demands. After microencapsulated into a protective shell, they can be directly added to cementitious materials to add thermal energy storage capacity to the material. However, existing studies show that the strength of the produced materials can be drastically reduced by the added PCM microcapsules. To overcome this drawback, this study develops a novel PCM microcapsule using the cenosphere as the protective shell, together with a bio-inspired dopamine coating. As hollow fly ash particles, cenosphere shells are much harder and stronger than commonly used polymer based protective shells. While the strong binding ability of dopamine to diverse surfaces through covalent and non-covalent interactions provides better bonding between the PCM microcapsule and the surrounding cement paste. For these reasons, the strength of the produced cement mortar can be greatly improved by this microcapsule. An experimental study shows that a 35% increase in compressive strength has been achieved by adding 10 wt% of the new PCM microcapsule into the cement mortar. Microstructure examination and hydration products analysis revealed that the dopamine coating facilitates the hydration of the cement and produces a denser and stronger interface between the microcapsule and the cement paste. As a result, a novel PCM microcapsule is developed which not only integrates latent heat storage capacity to the cement mortar but also enhance the compressive strength of the mortar, which cannot be achieved by any other PCM microcapsules.

Differences in cognition, short-chain fatty acids and related metabolites in pregnant versus non-pregnant women: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundPregnancy induces cognitive reorganization which can lead to mental disorders. The aim of this study is to determine differences in cognitive scores, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and related metabolites between pregnant and non-pregnant participants.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included 67 full-term pregnant women and 31 non-pregnant women. We compared scores of mental state and cognitive assessment tests, as well as serum concentrations of SCFAs, hormones, inflammatory factors, and neurotransmitters between these groups.ResultsScores for information processing speed, immediate visual memory, motor response speed and accuracy, execution ability and verbal use ability in the pregnant group were lower than those in the non-pregnant group (p < 0.05 for all tests). Total serum SCFAs in the pregnant group were significantly lower than those in the non-pregnant group (P = 0.031). Among them, acetate and propionate were significantly decreased (P = 0.013 and 0.037, respectively) whereas butyrate was significantly increased (P = 0.035). Serum peptide YY, glucagon-like peptide-1, γ-aminobutyric acid, and dopamine showed no differences between the two groups. However, cortisol, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and acetylcholine were significantly increased in the pregnant group as compared with the non-pregnant group (P = 0.039, 0.016, and 0.012, respectively). Tumor necrosis factor-α was increased and interleukin-10 significantly decreased in the pregnant group (P = 0.045 and 0.019, respectively).ConclusionAccording to our study findings, cognitive reorganization in the third trimester of pregnancy showed that both the passive storage capacity of working memory and the executive function of online information processing were decreased to varying degrees. At the same time, the changes in total SCFAs, the proportions of SCFAs and related metabolites were also detected. These changes in the internal environment may be increasing the risk of perinatal mental illness.

Plant carbohydrate storage: intra- and inter-specific trade-offs reveal a major life history trait.

Trade-offs among carbon sinks constrain how trees physiologically, ecologically, and evolutionarily respond to their environments. These trade-offs typically fall along a productive growth to conservative, bet-hedging continuum. How nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) stored in living tree cells (known as carbon stores) fit in this trade-off framework is not well understood. We examined relationships between growth and storage using both within species genetic variation from a common garden, and across species phenotypic variation from a global database. We demonstrate that storage is actively accumulated, as part of a conservative, bet-hedging life history strategy. Storage accumulates at the expense of growth both within and across species. Within the species Populus trichocarpa, genetic trade-offs show that for each additional unit of wood area growth (in cm2 yr-1 ) that genotypes invest in, they lose 1.2 to 1.7 units (mg g-1 NSC) of storage. Across species, for each additional unit of area growth (in cm2 yr-1 ), trees, on average, reduce their storage by 9.5% in stems and 10.4% in roots. Our findings impact our understanding of basic plant biology, fit storage into a widely used growth-survival trade-off spectrum describing life history strategy, and challenges the assumptions of passive storage made in ecosystem models today.

Development of a thermal control coating optimized for cryogenic space applications

As NASA endeavors to extend the human presence in space beyond low Earth orbit, methods to efficiently store cryogenic propellants in space are required. Current state of the art rigid thermal control coatings absorb approximate 6% of the total solar irradiance, while state of the art thermal control paints absorb approximately 10% of the total solar irradiance. Consequently, radiative heat transfer a lone makes passive storage of cryogens in space impossible. A new rigid thermal control coating is in development and has achieved solar absorption values as low as -0.6 % (compared to a NIST standard) while maintaining high emissivity. This negative value for a rigid tile of pure yttria has required a new testing method be developed. Rigid tiles are very high performance but have more mass than paints and paper-th in coatings. Tiles must have a metallic substrate and create application challenges. While some use cases may necessarily address the challenges associated with rigid tiles in order to achieve required performance, a similar paint-like coating was also developed. The spray-on version of the new thermal control coating is easily applied to large complex surfaces and is very low mass. This version is also primarily yttria but includes a potassium bromide binder. Application to various substrates shows solar absorption values consistently below 5%, with a minimum of 2.8% achieved. Details of each version of this coating, along with test data is discussed.

Come hell or high water: climate action by archives, records and cultural heritage professionals in the United Kingdom

PurposeThis paper aims to evidence the perspectives of information professionals in the UK in relation to environmental sustainability and climate action to catalyse collaborative action.Design/methodology/approachThis study takes an interpretivist stance. Research into archive and record management literature was conducted to establish key themes on climate change within the information sector. These themes informed research questions included in a survey cascaded to UK archivists, conservators, records managers and cultural heritage professionals via national mailing lists. The results were then codified and analysed. The study had research ethics and data protection approval from University College London.FindingsUsing professional ethics as a framework, this paper argues that climate action can protect records from the impact of climate change, ensuring future access. The information professionals surveyed were motivated by duties to preservation and access to mitigate the impact of the information sector on the environment. However, sector-specific climate action, such as introducing passive storage conditions or decreasing collection sizes, is limited by insufficient resources, organisational hierarchies and cultures, sector support and a perceived conflict with the duty to preservation.Originality/valueTo date, there is a growing body of literature from other countries on archival practices and the natural environment. However, the UK in general and the records management sector in particular, have not yet fully engaged in the discussion. This study reviews these knowledge gaps for the UK information sector to appropriately respond to climate change.

Characterization of Fatty Acids as Biobased Organic Materials for Latent Heat Storage.

This work aims to characterize phase change materials (PCM) for thermal energy storage in buildings (thermal comfort). Fatty acids, biobased organic PCM, are attractive candidates for integration into active or passive storage systems for targeted application. Three pure fatty acids (capric, myristic and palmitic acids) and two eutectic mixtures (capric-myristic and capric-palmitic acids) are studied in this paper. Although the main storage properties of pure fatty acids have already been investigated and reported in the literature, the information available on the eutectic mixtures is very limited (only melting temperature and enthalpy). This paper presents a complete experimental characterization of these pure and mixed fatty acids, including measurements of their main thermophysical properties (melting temperature and enthalpy, specific heats and densities in solid and liquid states, thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity as well as viscosity) and the properties of interest regarding the system integrating the PCM (energy density, volume expansion). The storage performances of the studied mixtures are also compared to those of most commonly used PCM (salt hydrates and paraffins).

Relationships between apparent cortical thickness and working memory across the lifespan - Effects of genetics and socioeconomic status

Working memory (WM) supports several higher-level cognitive abilities, yet we know less about factors associated with development and decline in WM compared to other cognitive processes. Here, we investigated lifespan changes in WM capacity and their structural brain correlates, using a longitudinal sample including 2358 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and WM scores from 1656 participants (4.4–86.4 years, mean follow-up interval 4.3 years). 8764 participants (9.0–10.9 years) with MRI, WM scores and genetic information from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study were used for follow-up analyses. Results showed that both the information manipulation component and the storage component of WM improved during childhood and adolescence, but the age-decline could be fully explained by reductions in passive storage capacity alone. Greater WM function in development was related to apparent thinner cortex in both samples, also when general cognitive function was accounted for. The same WM-apparent thickness relationship was found for young adults. The WM-thickness relationships could not be explained by SNP-based co-heritability or by socioeconomic status. A larger sample with genetic information may be necessary to disentangle the true gene-environment effects. In conclusion, WM capacity changes greatly through life and has anatomically extended rather than function-specific structural cortical correlates.

Modelling of decarbonisation transition in national integrated energy system with hourly operational resolution

In this paper, we present an optimisation integrated energy system model (IESA-Opt) for the Netherlands with the use of a linear programming formulation. This state-of-the-art model represents a scientific contribution as it integrates a European power-system model with a complete sectoral representation of the energy system technologies and infrastructure that account for all greenhouse gas emissions considered in the targets, and takes into consideration a detailed description of the cross-sectoral flexibility (e.g. flexible heat and power cogeneration, demand shedding from power-to-X and electrified industrial processes, short- and long-term storage of diverse energy carriers, smart charging and vehicle-to-grid for electric vehicles, and passive storage of ambience heat for the built environment). This model provides a detailed description of the operation of technologies and considers exogenous technological learning to simultaneously solve multi-year planning of investments, retrofitting, and economical decommissioning with intra-year operational, flexible, and despatch decisions. The model is applied to a case study of the Netherlands energy transition under the current climate policy and conservative projections for the economy and availability of resources. The results present a significant reliance on renewable energy sources, such as wind (800 PJ) and solar (300 PJ), to fuel the electrification revolution as well as biomass (550 PJ) for feedstock and heat purposes coupled with carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) to achieve negative emissions in certain sectors. However, oil (880 PJ) and gas (1050 PJ) constitute almost half of the final energy demand as they are required for heat applications, industrial feedstock, refined oil products for export, and international transport fuel. Four different sensitivity analyses are presented for the emission reduction target, oil demand streams, biomass availability, and demand volumes. The most significant findings are as follows: 1) it is crucial to have simultaneous highly available biomass and CCUS storage capacities to achieve negative emissions and facilitate the transition; 2) even in a highly decarbonised scenario, it is necessary to simultaneously develop climate policies focused on international transport emissions, oil-based feedstock, and refined-oil product exports to completely displace oil from the energy mix; 3) (imported) biomass has the ability to decrease system costs (3% under conservative scenarios of availability and price); however, for biomass prices higher than 20 €/GJ, this effect is lower; 4) in relative terms, the system is most sensitive to demand uncertainties from the transport sector than any other sector, followed closely by the industrial sector.

Fe K-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy of corrosion phases of archaeological iron: results, limitations, and the need for complementary techniques

Data analysis methods for iron x-ray absorption spectroscopy can provide extensive information about the oxidation state and co-ordination of an Fe-species. However, the extent to which techniques developed using a single-phase iron sample may be applied to complex, mixed-phase samples formed under real-world conditions is not clear. This work uses a combination of pre-edge fitting and linear combination analysis to characterise the near edge region of the x-ray absorption spectrum (XANES) for a set of archaeological iron corrosion samples from a collection of cast iron cannon shot excavated from the Mary Rose shipwreck and compares the data with phase compositions determined by synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction (SXPD). Archaeological powder and cross-section samples were compared to a library of iron standards and diffraction data. The XANES are consistent with previous observations that generation of the chlorinated phase akaganeite, β-FeO(OH,Cl), occurs in those samples which have been removed form passive storage and subjected to active conservation. However, the results show that if any metallic species is present in the sample, the contribution from Fe(0) to the spectral region containing a pre-edge for oxidised iron—Fe(II) and Fe(III)—causes the analysis to be less effective and the conclusions unreliable. Consequently, while the pre-edge fitting methodology may be applied to a mixture of iron oxides or oxyhydroxides, the procedure is inappropriate for a mixed metal-oxide sample without the application of a complimentary technique, such as SXPD.

Autonomic, immunological and endocrine influences on adipose tissue as an organ

White Adipose Tissue (WAT) is typically regarded as a passive storage deposit of excess fat. However, recent research suggests that WAT behaves like an organ system that interacts with the autonomous nervous, endocrinological and immunological systems. Therefore, it is possible that WAT acts as a regulatory organ that keeps the body in homeostasis. This cross-sectional study uses physiological data from 30 patients at the Pinewood Natural Health Centre in Toronto, Canada to derive a description of the role of WAT in the mediation of homeostasis. Statistical methods derive a formula describing the dynamic congruence that contributes to a systems medicine (SM) understanding of the organism. Multiple variables including body parameters, composition, and metabolism, heart rate variability and the immune, autonomous, neural, and endocrinologicial systems were measured and correlated using multiple regression analysis. The null hypothesis was that no variables would correlate; the alternative hypothesis was that at least two variables that would correlate with each other to demonstrate congruence and order. This analysis found strong correlations with parameters of the immune system and metabolism and few correlations with the autonomous nervous system. This suggests that despite the body’s complexity, not all systems may contribute equally strongly to overall homeostasis