In studying the application of pulse-coded neural networks for bipedal locomotion, our biological model for neural organization is the network of neurons in the ventral horn of the spinal cord. This neural system meets our application requirements for involving large amounts of sensory input data, large numbers of coordinated output signals, and relative ease in determining whether or not our neural system is working. The ventral horn neural circuits were historically the first mammalian neural network systems to be studied in detail, and much of what we know about neural organization in the brain was first learned by studying spinal neuron organization.
In-cell NMR: three-dimensional protein structures Previously, the relatively low sensitivity of spectroscopy and short lifetime of the samples have made it difficult to acquire sufficient structural information to determine protein structures using in-cell NMR spectroscopy. It can take one or two days to collect NMR data, too long for living cells. Sakakibara et al . overcome this limitation by collecting enough data in a few hours; they report the first three-dimensional protein structure determined exclusively on the basis of information obtained in living Escherichia coli . The model protein used in this 'proof of principle' study is the putative heavy metal-binding protein TTHA1718 from Thermus thermophilus .
