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Harris, S. B.

Publications and source records attributed to Harris, S. B..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Facility-Scale Workflows for Data Acquisition, Standardization, Machine Learning Analysis, and Reproducible Science

Scientific user facilities routinely generate large-scale microscopy datasets across diverse instruments and vendors, differing substantially in file formats, dimensionality, and resolution. Beyond these inconsistencies, datasets are frequently fragmented living across isolated instruments and constrained by security policies and uneven metadata practices. Consequently, tracking, standardizing, processing, and visualizing these datasets in a manner compatible with modern machine learning and autonomous experimentation workflows remains a major challenge. While existing initiatives address data archiving, standardization, or analysis individually, few provide integrated solutions that bridge instrument-level acquisition and scalable ML workflows within heterogeneous, security-constrained user facilities. Here, we establish a deployable, facility-scale infrastructure that bridges instrument-level data generation with cloud-based ML analytics while remaining compliant with institutional network constraints. Our framework integrates on-premises cloud computing, the in-house Pycroscopy ecosystem, and an open-source metadata management platform to transform heterogeneous microscopy datasets into standardized, ML-ready representations. We demonstrate this approach across distinct microscopy modalities through end-to-end workflows encompassing metadata capture, format harmonization, automated database ingestion, segmentation-based ML inference, and interactive visualization. By structurally separating acquisition from cloud-based analysis services, the framework enables scalable model deployment and iterative refinement without direct connectivity to instrument computers. Together, this work provides a reproducible blueprint for facility-scale data and AI infrastructure, enabling ML-ready analytics, metadata traceability, and future autonomous experimentation workflows in microscopy-driven research.

microbiology↗

Ultrastructural and Histological Cryopreservation of Mammalian Brains by Vitrification

Studies of whole brain cryopreservation are rare but are potentially important for a variety of applications. It has been demonstrated that ultrastructure in whole rabbit and pig brains can be cryopreserved by vitrification (ice-free cryopreservation) after prior aldehyde fixation, but fixation limits the range of studies that can be done by neurobiologists, including studies that depend upon general molecular integrity, signal transduction, macromolecular synthesis, and other physiological processes. We now show that whole brain ultrastructure can be preserved by vitrification without prior aldehyde fixation. Rabbit brain perfusion with the M22 vitrification solution followed by vitrification, warming, and fixation showed an absence of visible ice damage and overall structural preservation, but osmotic brain shrinkage sufficient to distort and obscure neuroanatomical detail. Neuroanatomical preservation in the presence of M22 was also investigated in human cerebral cortical biopsies taken after whole brain perfusion with M22. These biopsies did not form ice upon cooling or warming, and high power electron microscopy showed dehydrated and electron-dense but predominantly intact cells, neuropil, and synapses with no signs of ice crystal damage, and partial dilution of these samples restored normal cortical pyramidal cell shapes. To further evaluate ultrastructural preservation within the severely dehydrated brain, rabbit brains were perfused with M22 and then partially washed free of M22 before fixation. Perfusion dilution of the brain to 3-5M M22 resulted in brain re-expansion and the re-appearance of well-defined neuroanatomical features, but rehydration of the brain to 1M M22 resulted in ultrastructural damage suggestive of preventable osmotic injury caused by incomplete removal of M22. We conclude that both animal and human brains can be cryopreserved by vitrification with predominant retention of ultrastructural integrity without the need for prior aldehyde fixation. This observation has direct relevance to the feasibility of human cryopreservation, for which direct evidence has been lacking until this report. It also provides a starting point for perfecting brain cryopreservation, which may be necessary for lengthy space travel and could allow future medical time travel.

neuroscience↗

Clusters of fatty acids in the serum triacylglyceride fraction associate with the disorders of type 2 diabetes

AimsOur aim was to examine longitudinal associations of triacylglyceride fatty acid (TGFA) composition with insulin sensitivity (IS) and beta-cell function.\n\nMethodsAdults at-risk for T2D (n=477) had glucose and insulin measured from a glucose challenge at 3 time points over 6 years. The outcome variables Matsuda index (ISI), HOMA2-%S, Insulinogenic Index over HOMA-IR (IGI/IR), and Insulin Secretion-Sensitivity Index-2 (ISSI-2) were computed from the glucose challenge. Gas chromatography quantified TGFA composition from the baseline. We used adjusted generalized estimating equations (GEE) models and partial least squares (PLS) regression for the analysis.\n\nResultsIn adjusted GEE models, four TGFA (14:0, 16:0, 14:1n-7, 16:1n-7 as mol%) had strong negative associations with IS while others (e.g. 18:1n-7, 18:1n-9, 20:2n-6, 20:5n-3) had strong positive associations. Few associations were seen for beta-cell function, except for 16:0, 18:1n-7, and 20:2n-6. PLS analysis indicated four TGFA (14:0, 16:0, 14:1n-7, 16:1n-7) that clustered together and strongly related with lower IS. These four TGFA also correlated highly (r>0.4) with clinically measured TG.\n\nConclusionsWe found that higher proportions of a cluster of four TGFA strongly related with lower IS as well as hypertriglyceridemia, suggesting only a few fatty acids within the TGFA composition may primarily explain lipids role in glucose dysregulation.

epidemiology↗