‘Half-Match’ Bone Marrow Transplants Cure Sickle Cell in Trial

In her mid-20s, Yetunde Felix-Ukwu wore a Fentanyl patch that delivered enough narcotic to knock most adults out cold. Yet it barely kept her pain, caused by sickle cell disease, tolerable. Even with the patch, she was hospitalized almost every month for the pain, which she said was “like being hit with a hammer, searing, throbbing, you name it.” A debilitating genetic disorder, sickle-cell...

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Syrian Jet Strikes Close to Border With Turkey

GAZIANTEP, Turkey — Syria pulled both Turkey and Israel closer to military entanglements in its civil war on Monday, bombing a rebel-held Syrian village a few yards from the Turkish border in a deadly aerial assault and provoking Israeli tank commanders in the disputed Golan Heights into blasting mobile Syrian artillery units across their own armistice line. The escalations, which threatened...

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Preoccupations: Bridging the Hiring Gap for College Graduates

MANY newly minted college graduates are filled with anxiety, fearing that they won’t find decent jobs despite their knowledge and skills, and that they will never be free of tuition debt. At the same time, executives say they can’t find qualified applicants for a wide range of jobs. So, this fall, I talked to about a dozen C.E.O.’s in a variety of industries, along with more than 135 graduates,...

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Global Update: A Solar Device to Help Sterilize Instruments

Solar power can steam-sterilize surgical instruments, according to a new study — but the contraption needed to do so is not pocket-size. Sterilizing instruments needed in surgical emergencies like Caesarean births or appendectomies can be a problem in rural clinics in Africa: There may be no electricity, jugs of bleach or tanks of propane. So a Rice University team recently modified...

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Global Update: A Solar Device to Help Sterilize Instruments

Solar power can steam-sterilize surgical instruments, according to a new study — but the contraption needed to do so is not pocket-size. Sterilizing instruments needed in surgical emergencies like Caesarean births or appendectomies can be a problem in rural clinics in Africa: There may be no electricity, jugs of bleach or tanks of propane. So a Rice University team recently modified...

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Report Sees U.S. as Top Oil Producer, Overtaking Saudi Arabia, in 5 Years

Charlie Riedel/Associated PressA pump jack near Greensburg, Kan. Increased oil production and new policies to improve energy efficiency mean that the United States will become “all but self-sufficient” in energy in about two decades, the International Energy Agency predicted. The United States will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s leading oil producer by about 2017 and will become a net oil exporter...

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Changing of the Guard: Chinese Communist Party Faces Calls for Democracy

BEIJING — As the Communist Party’s 18th Congress approached, Li Weidong, a scholar of politics, made plans to observe a historic leadership battle in one of the world’s great nations. Instead of staying in Beijing to monitor China’s once-a-decade transfer of power, Mr. Li boarded a plane. “I’m going to the United States to study the elections,” Mr. Li said in a telephone interview...

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Bits Blog: Apple Settles Patent Suit With HTC

Apple and HTC have brought an end to their lawsuits against each other in the first settlement between Apple and a maker of Android smartphones.In a statement issued Saturday night, the two companies said the settlement includes the dismissal of all current lawsuits and sets up a 10-year license agreement that includes rights to current and future patents held by both parties. Apple and HTC, which...

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Mind Faded, Darrell Royal’s Wisdom and Humor Intact Till End

Three days before his death last week at 88, Darrell Royal told his wife, Edith: “We need to go back to Hollis” — in Oklahoma. “Uncle Otis died.” “Oh, Darrell,” she said, “Uncle Otis didn’t die.” Royal, a former University of Texas football coach, chuckled and said, “Well, Uncle Otis will be glad to hear that.” The Royal humor never faded, even as he sank deeper into Alzheimer’s...

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Mind Faded, Darrell Royal’s Wisdom and Humor Intact Till End

Three days before his death last week at 88, Darrell Royal told his wife, Edith: “We need to go back to Hollis” — in Oklahoma. “Uncle Otis died.” “Oh, Darrell,” she said, “Uncle Otis didn’t die.” Royal, a former University of Texas football coach, chuckled and said, “Well, Uncle Otis will be glad to hear that.” The Royal humor never faded, even as he sank deeper into Alzheimer’s...

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