In computer-based text processing and digital typesetting, a non-breaking space, no-break space or non-breakable space (NBSP) is a variant of the space character that prevents an automatic line break (line wrap) at its position. In certain formats (such as HTML), it also prevents the collapsing of multiple consecutive whitespace characters into a single space. The non-breaking space is also known as a hard space or fixed space. In Unicode, it is encoded at U+00A0 no-break space (HTML:    ). Text-processing software typically assumes that an automatic line break may be inserted anywhere a space character occurs; a non-breaking space prevents this from happening (provided the software recognizes the character). For example, if the text 100 km will not quite fit at the end of a line, the software may insert a line break between 100 and km. To avoid this undesirable behaviour, the editor may choose to use a non-breaking space between 100 and km. This guarantees that the text 100km will not be broken: if it does not fit at the end of a line it is moved in its entirety to the next line. A second common application of non-breaking spaces is in plain text file formats such … Continue reading →

On Friday the BBC broadcast a moving report about a young girl named Sohana Collins, who suffers from the painful and life threatening genetic disorder epidermolysis bullosa (EB), caused by mutations in the type VII collagen gene (Col7a1). The report also included an interview with Prof John McGrath, Professor of Molecular dermatology at Kings College London, who is leading a clinical trial EBSTEM of mesenchymal stem cell therapy for EB that Sohana is part of, who spoke about the potential for this therapy to help people with EB. Sohana Collins, who is participating in the EBSTEM trial. Image: BBC News Type VII collagen (col7) is a key component of the basement membrane of the skin, a layer of protein structures that acts as a kind of cement that binds the outermost layer of the skin the epidermis to the underlying dermal layer, and lack of clo7 leads to the two layers to move independently of each other. This shearing movement at the dermal-epidermal junction hasthe result that even the slightest injury can lead to blisters and sores, and people with EB have a very high risk of developing skin cancers. The EBSTEMtrial seeks to determine if infused mesenchymal stem cells … Continue reading →