text:
au:"Wang, Xiangdong" (722)
Neoplasias Pulmonares (64)
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Carotenoides (26)
Rinite (26)
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Roles of pulmonary telocytes in airway epithelia to benefit experimental acute lung injury through production of telocyte-driven mediators and exosomes.
Tang, Li; Song, Dongli; Qi, Ruixue; Zhu, Bijun; Wang, Xiangdong.
Cell Biol Toxicol ; 2022 Jan 03.
BACKGROUND: Telocytes (TCs) are experimentally evidenced as an alternative of cell therapies for organ tissue injury and repair. The aims of the present studies are to explore direct roles of TCs and the roles of TC-derived exosomes in support of experimental acute lung injury (ALI) in vivo or in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The roles of TCs in experimental ALI were firstly estimated. Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) p110δ and α/δ/ß isoform inhibitors were used in study dynamic alterations of bio-behaviors, and in expression of functional factors of TCs per se and TC-co-cultured airway epithelial cells during the activation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). TC-driven exosomes were furthermore characterized for intercellular communication by which activated or non-activated TCs interacted with epithelia. RESULTS: Our results showed that TCs mainly prevented from lung tissue edema and hemorrhage and decreased the levels of VEGF-A and MMP9 induced by LPS. Treatment with CAL101 (PI3K p110δ inhibitor) and LY294002 (PI3Kα/δ/ß inhibitor) could inhibit TC movement and differentiation and increase the number of dead TCs. The expression of Mtor, Hif1α, Vegf-a, or Mmp9 mRNA increased in TCs challenged with LPS, while Mtor, Hif1α, and Vegf-a even more increased after adding CAL101 or Mtor after adding LY. The rate of epithelial cell proliferation was higher in co-culture of human bronchial epithelial (HBE) and TCs than that in HBE alone under conditions with or without LPS challenge or when cells were treated with LPS and CAL101 or LY294002. The levels of mTOR, HIF1α, or VEGF-A significantly increased in mono-cultured or co-cultured cells, challenged with LPS as compared with those with vehicle. LPS-pretreated TC-derived exosomes upregulated the expression of AKT, p-AKT, HIF1α, and VEGF-A protein of HBE. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated that intraperitoneal administration of TCs ameliorated the severity of lung tissue edema accompanied by elevated expression of VEGF-A. TCs could nourish airway epithelial cells through nutrients produced from TCs, increasing epithelial cell proliferation, and differentiation as well as cell sensitivity to LPS challenge and PI3K p110δ and α/δ/ß inhibitors, partially through exosomes released from TCs.
Single-Dose Vaccination of Recombinant Chimeric Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) LaSota Vaccine Strain Expressing Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (IBDV) VP2 Gene Provides Full Protection against Genotype VII NDV and IBDV Challenge.
Qiao, Qilong; Song, Mingzhen; Song, Congcong; Zhang, Yihang; Wang, Xiangdong; Huang, Qing; Wang, Baiyu; Yang, Panpan; Zhao, Shiyi; Li, Yongtao; Wang, Zeng; Zhao, Jun.
Vaccines (Basel) ; 9(12)2021 Dec 15.
Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) are the two most important and widespread viruses causing huge economic losses in the global poultry industry. Outbreaks of genotype VII NDV and IBDV variants in vaccinated poultry flocks call for genetically matched vaccines. In the present study, a genetic matched chimeric NDV LaSota vaccine strain expressing VP2 gene of IBDV variant, rLaS-VIIF/HN-VP2 was generated for the first time, in which both the F and HN genes of LaSota were replaced with those of the genotype VII NDV strain FJSW. The cleavage site of the FJSW strain F protein in the rLaS-VIIF/HN-VP2 genome was mutated to the avirulent motif found in LaSota. Expression of IBDV VP2 protein was confirmed by western blot. The rLaS-VIIF/HN-VP2 maintained the efficient replication ability in embryonated eggs, low pathogenicity and genetic stability comparable to that of parental LaSota virus. One dose oculonasal vaccination of one-week-old SPF chickens with rLaS-VIIF/HN-VP2 induced full protection against genotype VII NDV and IBDV lethal challenge. These results indicate that the rLaS-VIIF/HN-VP2 is a promising bivalent vaccine to prevent infections of IBDV and genotype VII NDV.
How to translate the knowledge of COVID-19 into the prevention of Omicron variants.
Wang, Xiangdong; Powell, Charles A.
Clin Transl Med ; 11(12): e680, 2021 12.
Omicron variants are part of the "Coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19] Variants of Concerns" and has the potential to spread around the world rapidly and can harm human life. We can anticipate that the endemic state of COVID-19 will be characterized by the development of new strains with surges that will predominate in unvaccinated and immunodeficient populations. Thus, there will be an important role in promoting vaccinations, boosters and accessible testing to prevent disease transmission and to rapidly detect surges. There is an urgent need to explore the virology and biology of Omicron variants, define clinical phenomes and therapies, monitor dynamics of genetic changes, and translate the knowledge of COVID-19 into new variants. Clinical and translational medicine will be impactful in addressing these challenges by providing new insights for understanding and predicting new variants-associated transmissibility, disease severity, immune escape, diagnostic or therapeutic failure.
COVID-19/prevenção & controle , COVID-19/virologia , SARS-CoV-2/genética , /métodos , Vacinas contra COVID-19 , Humanos , Sistema Imunitário , Mutação , África do Sul , Vacinação
Can single cell RNA sequencing reshape the clinical biochemistry of hematology: New clusters of circulating blood cells.
Fang, Hao; Zeng, Yiming; Zhang, Lianzhong; Chen, Chengshui; Powell, Charles A; Wang, Xiangdong.
scRNA-seq is on track for use as a routine measurement of clinical biochemistry and to assist in clinical decision-making and guide the performance of molecular medicine, but there are still a large number of challenges to be overcome. In conclusion, scRNA-seq-based clusters and differentiation of circulating blood cells have been examined and informative in patients with various diseases, although the information generated from scRNA-seq varies between different conditions, technologies, and diseases. Most of the clinical studies published have focused on the landscape of circulating immune cells, disease-specific patterns of new clusters, understanding of potential mechanisms, and potential correlation between cell clusters, differentiations, cell interactions, and circulating and migrated cells. It is clear that the information from scRNA-seq advances the understanding of the disease, identifies disease-specific target panels, and suggests new therapeutic strategies. The adaptation of scRNA-seq as a routine clinical measurement will require standardization and normalization of scRNA-seq-based comprehensive information and validation in a large population of healthy and diseased patients. The integration of public databases on human circulating cell clusters and differentiations with an application of artificial intelligence and computational science will accelerate the application of scRNA-seq for clinical practice. Thus, we call special attention from scientists and clinicians to the clinical and translational discovery, validation, and medicine opportunities of scRNA-seq development.
Felsic volcanism as a factor driving the end-Permian mass extinction.
Zhang, Hua; Zhang, Feifei; Chen, Jiu-Bin; Erwin, Douglas H; Syverson, Drew D; Ni, Pei; Rampino, Michael; Chi, Zhe; Cai, Yao-Feng; Xiang, Lei; Li, Wei-Qiang; Liu, Sheng-Ao; Wang, Ru-Cheng; Wang, Xiang-Dong; Feng, Zhuo; Li, Hou-Min; Zhang, Ting; Cai, Hong-Ming; Zheng, Wang; Cui, Ying; Zhu, Xiang-Kun; Hou, Zeng-Qian; Wu, Fu-Yuan; Xu, Yi-Gang; Planavsky, Noah; Shen, Shu-Zhong.
Sci Adv ; 7(47): eabh1390, 2021 Nov 19.
[Figure: see text].
A cellular census of human peripheral immune cells identifies novel cell states in lung diseases.
Song, Dongli; Yan, Furong; Fu, Huirong; Li, Liyang; Hao, Jie; Zhu, Zhenhua; Ye, Ling; Zhang, Yong; Jin, Meiling; Dai, Lihua; Fang, Hao; Song, Zhenju; Wu, Duojiao; Wang, Xiangdong.
Increasing evidence supports a central role of the immune system in lung diseases. Understanding how immunological alterations between lung diseases provide opportunities for immunotherapy. Exhausted T cells play a key role of immune suppression in lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was proved in our previous study. The present study aims to furthermore define molecular landscapes and heterogeneity of systemic immune cell target proteomic and transcriptomic profiles and interactions between circulating immune cells and lung residential cells in various lung diseases. We firstly measured target proteomic profiles of circulating immune cells from healthy volunteers and patients with stable pneumonia, stable asthma, acute asthma, acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer, using single-cell analysis by cytometry by time-of-flight with 42 antibodies. The nine immune cells landscape was mapped among those respiratory system diseases, including CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, dendritic cells, B cells, eosinophil, γδT cells, monocytes, neutrophil and natural killer cells. The double-negative T cells and exhausted CD4+ central memory T cells subset were identified in patients with acute pneumonia. This T subset expressed higher levels of T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3 (Tim3) and T-cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains (TIGIT) in patients with acute pneumonia and stable pneumonia. Biological processes and pathways of immune cells including immune response activation, regulation of cell cycle and pathways in cancer in peripheral blood immune cells were defined by bulk RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). The heterogeneity among immune cells including CD4+ , CD8+ T cells and NK T cells by single immune cell RNA-seq with significant difference was found by single-cell sequencing. The effect of interstitial telocytes on the immune cell types and immune function was finally studied and the expressions of CD8a and chemokine C-C motif receptor 7 (CCR7) were increased significantly in co-cultured groups. Our data indicate that proteomic and transcriptomic profiles and heterogeneity of circulating immune cells provides new insights for understanding new molecular mechanisms of immune cell function, interaction and modulation as a source to identify and develop biomarkers and targets for lung diseases.
New focuses on roles of communications between endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria in identification of biomarkers and targets.
Zhang, Linlin; Yan, Furong; Li, Liyang; Fu, Huirong; Song, Dongli; Wu, Duojiao; Wang, Xiangdong.
The communication between endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria (Mt) plays important roles in maintenance of intra- and extra-cellular microenvironment, metabolisms, signaling activities and cell-cell communication. The present review aims to overview the advanced understanding about roles of ER-Mt structural contacts, molecular interactions and chemical exchanges, signal transmissions and inter-organelle regulations in ER-Mt communication. We address how the ER-Mt communication contributes to the regulation of lipid, amino acid and glucose metabolisms by enzymes, transporters and regulators in the process of biosynthesis. We specially emphasize the importance of deep understanding about molecular mechanisms of ER-Mt communication for identification and development of biology-specific, disease-specific and metabolism-specific biomarkers and therapeutic targets for human diseases. The inhibitors and modulators of the ER-Mt communication are categorized according to therapeutic targets. Rapid development of biotechnologies will provide new insights for spatiotemporally understanding the molecular mechanisms of ER-Mt communication.
A deficient MIF-CD74 signaling pathway may play an important role in immunotherapy-induced hyper-progressive disease.
Wang, Jiahui; Hong, Jinsheng; Yang, Feiyu; Liu, Fangming; Wang, Xiangdong; Shen, Zan; Wu, Duojiao.
Cell Biol Toxicol ; 2021 Nov 19.
BACKGROUND: With the advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) therapies, a major breakthrough has been made in cancer treatment. However, instead of good results, some patients experienced a deterioration of their disease. This unexpected result is termed as hyper-progressive disease (HPD). The biology of HPD is currently not fully understood. METHODS: Isolation of CD3+ cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in healthy control, tumor patients receiving immunotherapy with or without immunotherapy-induced HPD, then conducted single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). RESULTS: By analyzing scRNA-seq data, we identified 15 cell clusters. We observed developed-exhausted CD4+ T cells and regulatory T cells (Tregs) increasingly enriched in HPD group. Meanwhile, some effector T cells were decreased in HPD. The imbalance potentially contributes to the occurrence of HPD and poor clinical prognosis. In addition, we analyzed ligand-receptor interactions between subsets. The ligand-receptor interaction "CD74-MIF" was absent in HPD. However, in vitro experiment, we found that CD74 regulated effector function of effector CD8+ T cells. Overall, the article provides a primary study of immune profile in HPD.
Predicting the recurrence of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps using nasal microbiota.
Zhao, Yan; Chen, Junru; Hao, Yun; Wang, Boqian; Wang, Yue; Liu, Qinghua; Zhao, Jinming; Li, Ying; Wang, Ping; Wang, Xiangdong; Zhang, Peng; Zhang, Luo.
Allergy ; 2021 Nov 04.
BACKGROUND: Recent studies have revealed that the nasal microbiota in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is profoundly altered and is correlated with systemic inflammation. However, little is known regarding whether the microbiota can be utilized to predict nasal polyp recurrence. This study is aimed to determine whether altered nasal microbiota constituents could be used as biomarkers to predict CRSwNP recurrence. METHODS: Nasal microbiota constituents were quantified and characterized using bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. Selected features for least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression-based predictors were the nasal microbiota community composition and CRSwNP patient clinical characteristics. The primary outcome was recurrence, which was determined post-admission. RESULTS: By distinguishing recurrence-associated nasal microbiota taxa and exploiting the distinct nasal microbiota abundance between patients with recurrent and non-recurrent CRSwNP, we developed a predictive classifier for the diagnosis of nasal polyps' recurrence with 91.4% accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: Key taxonomical features of the nasal microbiome could predict recurrence in CRSwNP patients. The nasal microbiome is an understudied source of clinical variation in CRSwNP and represents a novel therapeutic target for future prevention and treatment.
PM2.5 Upregulates the Expression of MUC5AC via the EGFR-PI3K Pathway in Human Sinonasal Epithelial Cells.
Jiao, Jian; Hu, Puqi; Li, Ying; Cai, Chao; Wang, Xiangdong; Zhang, Luo.
Int Arch Allergy Immunol ; : 1-14, 2021 Nov 04.
BACKGROUND: Fine particulate matter (PM) (PM with an aerodynamic diameter <2.5 µm, PM2.5) exposure contributes to respiratory disease development and exacerbation. OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate the effect of PM2.5 exposure on mucociliary function in primary human nasal epithelial cells (HNECs) and the underlying mechanism. METHODS: HNECs derived from control subjects and patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps were established as air-liquid interface cultures. Confluent cultures were exposed to 100 or 200 µg/mL PM2.5 for 24 h and assessed for expression of specific mucociliary-associated factors, the percentage of ß-tubulin IV-positive and MUC5AC-positive cells, expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) ligand and activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-AKT/ERK. In addition, cultures pretreated for 30 min with AG1478 (an EGFR inhibitor) or LY294002 (a PI3K inhibitor) following PM2.5 exposure were assessed for MUC5AC mRNA and protein expression. RESULTS: PM2.5 exposure at 100 or 200 µg/mL for 24 h did not affect geminin coiled-coil domain containing, multiciliate differentiation and DNA synthesis associated cell cycle protein, FOXJ1, or DNAI2 mRNA expression or the percentage of ß-tubulin IV-positive cells. However, 200 µg/mL PM2.5 exposure significantly increased mRNA expression of SAM-pointed domain-containing ETS transcription factor and MUC5AC and the percentage of MUC5AC-positive cells. PM2.5 also increased expression of EGFR ligands, including heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor and amphiregulin. Furthermore, PM2.5induced activation of PI3K, AKT, and ERK, and pretreatment of HNECs with AG1478 or LY294002 attenuated PM2.5-induced MUC5AC mRNA and protein expression. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study demonstrates that short-term PM2.5 exposure increases MUC5AC expression in HNECs. Furthermore, this study shows that PM2.5-induced MUC5AC expression is likely mediated through the EGFR-PI3K pathway.
Ventricular voltage-gated ion channels: Detection, characteristics, mechanisms, and drug safety evaluation.
Chen, Lulan; He, Yue; Wang, Xiangdong; Ge, Junbo; Li, Hua.
Cardiac voltage-gated ion channels (VGICs) play critical roles in mediating cardiac electrophysiological signals, such as action potentials, to maintain normal heart excitability and contraction. Inherited or acquired alterations in the structure, expression, or function of VGICs, as well as VGIC-related side effects of pharmaceutical drug delivery can result in abnormal cellular electrophysiological processes that induce life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias or even sudden cardiac death. Hence, to reduce possible heart-related risks, VGICs must be acknowledged as important targets in drug discovery and safety studies related to cardiac disease. In this review, we first summarize the development and application of electrophysiological techniques that are employed in cardiac VGIC studies alone or in combination with other techniques such as cryoelectron microscopy, optical imaging and optogenetics. Subsequently, we describe the characteristics, structure, mechanisms, and functions of various well-studied VGICs in ventricular myocytes and analyze their roles in and contributions to both physiological cardiac excitability and inherited cardiac diseases. Finally, we address the implications of the structure and function of ventricular VGICs for drug safety evaluation. In summary, multidisciplinary studies on VGICs help researchers discover potential targets of VGICs and novel VGICs in heart, enrich their knowledge of the properties and functions, determine the operation mechanisms of pathological VGICs, and introduce groundbreaking trends in drug therapy strategies, and drug safety evaluation.
Discovery in clinical and translational medicine.
Wang, Diane C; Wang, Xiangdong.
With the rapid development of biotechnologies and deep improvement of knowledge, "Discovery" is the initial period and source of innovation of clinical and translational medicine. The international journal of Clinical and Translational Discovery serves to highlight unknown or unclear aspects of clinical and translational medicine-associated knowledge, technologies, mechanisms, and therapies (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/27680622). The Discovery aims to define the interaction between genes, proteins, and cells, and explore molecular mechanisms of intercommunication and inter-regulation. More discoveries of technologies and equipment are expected to improve method sensitivity, specificity, stability, analysis, and clinical significance. The first priority of Clinical and Translational Discovery is to turn gene-, protein-, drug-, cell-, and interaction-based discoveries into health advancements. Clinical and Translational Discovery highly focuses on the discoveries of biological therapies and precision medicine-based therapy elicited from computational chemistry, DNA libraries, target-dependent small molecular drugs, high-throughput screening, vaccination, immune therapy, cell implantations, gene editing, and RNA- or protein-based inhibitors. Thus, Clinical and Translational Discovery sincerely welcome you to join and share the rapid development and future successes to come.
Involvement of the extracellular matrix proteins periostin and tenascin C in nasal polyp remodeling by regulating the expression of MMPs.
Du, Kun; Wang, Min; Zhang, Nan; Yu, Pei; Wang, Ping; Li, Ying; Wang, Xiangdong; Zhang, Luo; Bachert, Claus.
Clin Transl Allergy ; 11(7): e12059, 2021 Aug.
Background: Tissue remodeling caused by increased MMPs is involved in the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP). We previously found higher levels of periostin and tenascin C in CRSwNPs, but whether they are associated with the dysregulation of MMPs is unknown. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the regulatory roles of these two ECM proteins in the expression of MMPs in nasal polyps. Methods: The concentrations of MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-7, MMP-8, MMP-9, MMP-12, MMP-13, TIMP-1, TIMP-2, TIMP-3, TIMP-4, periostin, and tenascin C in tissue homogenates of 51 patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with and without nasal polyps and 15 control subjects were measured and were analyzed by adjusted logistic regression and spearman correlation test. Primary human nasal polyp fibroblasts and epithelial cells were stimulated ex vivo with periostin and tenascin C and the gene expression of MMPs and TIMPs was determined by means of real-time PCR. Results: The protein levels of MMP-3, MMP-7, MMP-8, MMP-9, TIMP-1, TIMP-2, periostin, and tenascin C were significantly higher in patients with CRSwNPs than in healthy control subjects. The adjusted logistic regression analyses showed that MMP-3, MMP-7, MMP-8, MMP-9, TIMP-2, periostin, and tenascin C were related to the occurrence of CRSwNP. Spearman correlation test showed periostin was positively correlated with MMP-3 and TIMP-2, and tenascin C was positively correlated with MMP-3, MMP-7, MMP-8, MMP-9, and TIMP-2. Periostin stimulated the gene expression of MMP-3, MMP-7, MMP-8, and MMP-9 in fibroblasts and MMP-9 in epithelial cells ex vivo. Tenascin C stimulated the expression of MMP-3, MMP-7, MMP-8, and MMP-9 in epithelial cells. The expression of TIMPs in fibroblasts and epithelial cells was affected by neither periostin nor tenascin C. Conclusions: Periostin and tenascin C might be involved in the remodeling of nasal polyps by regulating the expression of different MMPs in epithelial cells and fibroblasts. Our findings have the potential to identify key factors of tissue remodeling in CRSwNPs.
Trends in the biological functions and medical applications of extracellular vesicles and analogues.
Zhao, Yan; Li, Xiaolu; Zhang, Wenbo; Yu, Lanlan; Wang, Yang; Deng, Zhun; Liu, Mingwei; Mo, Shanshan; Wang, Ruonan; Zhao, Jinming; Liu, Shuli; Hao, Yun; Wang, Xiangdong; Ji, Tianjiao; Zhang, Luo; Wang, Chenxuan.
Acta Pharm Sin B ; 11(8): 2114-2135, 2021 Aug.
Natural extracellular vesicles (EVs) play important roles in many life processes such as in the intermolecular transfer of substances and genetic information exchanges. Investigating the origins and working mechanisms of natural EVs may provide an understanding of life activities, especially regarding the occurrence and development of diseases. Additionally, due to their vesicular structure, EVs (in small molecules, nucleic acids, proteins, etc.) could act as efficient drug-delivery carriers. Herein, we describe the sources and biological functions of various EVs, summarize the roles of EVs in disease diagnosis and treatment, and review the application of EVs as drug-delivery carriers. We also assess the challenges and perspectives of EVs in biomedical applications.
[Doxorubicin Hydrochloride Liposome-Based CHOP Regimen in the Initial Treatment of Elderly Patients with Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma: A Retrospective Study].
Wang, Xiang-Dong; Guo, Bo; Zhai, Bing; Yang, Bo; Fan, Hui; Lu, Xue-Chun; Li, Su-Xia; Zhu, Hong-Li.
Zhongguo Shi Yan Xue Ye Xue Za Zhi ; 29(4): 1136-1140, 2021 Aug.
Artigo em Chinês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34362493
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of CHOP regimen based on doxorubicin hydrochloride liposome in the initial treatment of elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). METHODS: Thirty-one patients with DLBCL treated from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2019 were analyzed retrospectively, their median age was 83 (71-95) years old, and all of them were in Ⅲ-Ⅳ stage, including 17 cases who had international prognostic index (IPI) ≥ 3. The patients were treated with R-CHOP and CHOP regimens based on doxorubicin hydrochloride liposome. The efficacy and safety were evaluated during and after treatment. RESULTS: A total of 219 chemotherapy cycles and 7 median cycles were performed in 31 patients. The overall response (OR) rate and complete remission (CR) rate was 80.7% (25/31) and 61.3% (19/31), respectively, as well as 2 cases (6.5%) stable, 4 cases (12.9%) progressive. The main toxicities were as follows: the incidence of grade Ⅲ -Ⅳ neutropenia was 29% (9/31); two patients (6.5%) developed degree â… -Ⅱ cardiac events, which were characterized by new degree â… atrioventricular block; there were no cardiac events requiring emergency treatment and discontinuation of chemotherapy. The 1-year, 2-year and 3-year overall survival rate was 83.9%, 77.4% and 61.3%, respectively. The 1-year, 2-year and 3-year progression-free survival rate was 77.4%, 64.5% and 61.3%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The chemotherapy regimen based on doxorubicin hydrochloride liposome has better efficacy and higher cardiac safety for elderly patients with DLBCL.
Lipossomos , Linfoma Difuso de Grandes Células B , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Protocolos de Quimioterapia Combinada Antineoplásica , Ciclofosfamida/uso terapêutico , Doxorrubicina/uso terapêutico , Humanos , Lipossomos/uso terapêutico , Linfoma Difuso de Grandes Células B/tratamento farmacológico , Prednisolona , Prednisona/uso terapêutico , Estudos Retrospectivos , Rituximab/uso terapêutico , Vincristina/uso terapêutico
Biomedical Applications of Supramolecular Materials in the Controllable Delivery of Steroids.
Hao, Yun; Zhang, Feiyi; Mo, Shanshan; Zhao, Jinming; Wang, Xiangdong; Zhao, Yan; Zhang, Luo.
Front Mol Biosci ; 8: 700712, 2021.
Glucocorticoids are a class of steroid hormones secreted from the adrenal glands. The strong anti-inflammatory effects make it be one of the most popular and versatile drugs available to treat chronic inflammatory diseases. Additionally, supramolecular materials have been widely exploited in drug delivery, due to their biocompatibility, tunability, and predictability. Thus, steroid-based supramolecular materials and the release of steroids have been applied in the treatment of inflammatory diseases. This mini-review summarized recent advances in supramolecular materials loaded with glucocorticoid drugs in terms of hydrophobic interactions, electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding, and π-π stackings. We also discussed and prospected the application of the glucocorticoid drugs-based supramolecular system on chronic rhinosinusitis, multifactorial inflammatory disease of the nasal and paranasal sinuses mucosal membranes. Overall, supramolecular materials can provide an alternative to traditional materials as a novel delivery platform in clinical practice.
Fat body Ire1 regulates lipid homeostasis through the Xbp1s-FoxO axis in Drosophila.
Zhao, Peng; Huang, Ping; Xu, Tongfu; Xiang, Xiaoxiang; Sun, Ying; Liu, Jingqi; Yan, Cheng; Wang, Lei; Gao, Jiamei; Cui, Shang; Wang, Xiangdong; Zhan, Lixing; Song, Haiyun; Liu, Jingnan; Song, Wei; Liu, Yong.
iScience ; 24(8): 102819, 2021 Aug 20.
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident transmembrane protein kinase/RNase Ire1 is a conserved sensor of the cellular unfolded protein response and has been implicated in lipid homeostasis, including lipid synthesis and transport, across species. Here we report a novel catabolic role of Ire1 in regulating lipid mobilization in Drosophila. We found that Ire1 is activated by nutrient deprivation, and, importantly, fat body-specific Ire1 deficiency leads to increased lipid mobilization and sensitizes flies to starvation, whereas fat body Ire1 overexpression results in the opposite phenotypes. Genetic interaction and biochemical analyses revealed that Ire1 regulates lipid mobilization by promoting Xbp1s-associated FoxO degradation and suppressing FoxO-dependent lipolytic programs. Our results demonstrate that Ire1 is a catabolic sensor and acts through the Xbp1s-FoxO axis to hamper the lipolytic response during chronic food deprivation. These findings offer new insights into the conserved Ire1 regulation of lipid homeostasis.
Clinical significance of spatiotemporal transcriptional bursting and control.
Wang, Diane Catherine; Wang, Xiangdong.
Clin Transl Med ; 11(8): e518, 2021 08.
The rapid development of technologies provides the potential to perform real-time visualization of transcriptional bursting patterns, superenhancer formation and sensitivity to perturbation, and interactions between enhancers, promoters, and regulators during the burst. The transcriptional bursting-induced fluctuation can modify cell capacities, cell-cell communications, cell responses to microenvironmental changes, and forms of cell death. A large number of clinical and translational studies describe the existence of heterogeneity among cells, tissues, and organs but mechanism-based understanding of how and why the heterogeneity exists and how it is formed. The transcriptional bursting, fluctuation, and control determine the development of heterogeneity and optimize cell functions in the cell development and differentiation, contribute to the initiation of cell dysfunction and tumorigenesis in response to environments, and development/evolvement of hyper/hyposensitivity to drugs. Spatiotemporal monitoring of transcriptional bursting and control provides a new insight and deeper understanding of spatiotemporal molecular medicine by integrating the transcriptional positioning and function with cell phenotypes, cell-cell communication, and clinical phenomes.
Potential biomarkers and targets of mitochondrial dynamics.
Li, Liyang; Qi, Ruixue; Zhang, Linlin; Yu, Yuexin; Hou, Jiayun; Gu, Yutong; Song, Dongli; Wang, Xiangdong.
Mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to the imbalance of cellular homeostasis and the development of diseases, which is regulated by mitochondria-associated factors. The present review aims to explore the process of the mitochondrial quality control system as a new source of the potential diagnostic biomarkers and/or therapeutic targets for diseases, including mitophagy, mitochondrial dynamics, interactions between mitochondria and other organelles (lipid droplets, endoplasmic reticulum, endosomes, and lysosomes), as well as the regulation and posttranscriptional modifications of mitochondrial DNA/RNA (mtDNA/mtRNA). The direct and indirect influencing factors were especially illustrated in understanding the interactions among regulators of mitochondrial dynamics. In addition, mtDNA/mtRNAs and proteomic profiles of mitochondria in various lung diseases were also discussed as an example. Thus, alternations of mitochondria-associated regulators can be a new category of biomarkers and targets for disease diagnosis and therapy.
Prevalence and risk factors of allergic rhinitis and asthma in the southern edge of the plateau grassland region of northern China: A cross-sectional study.
Ma, Tingting; Chen, Yanlei; Pang, Yaojun; Wang, Xiangdong; Dai, Deqing; Zhuang, Yan; Shi, Haiyun; Zheng, Ming; Zhang, Ruijuan; Jin, Weiting; Yang, Xiaomei; Wang, Ye; Shan, Guangliang; Yan, Yong; Wang, Deyun; Wang, Xiaoyan; Wei, Qingyu; Yin, Jinshu; Wang, Xueyan; Zhang, Luo.
World Allergy Organ J ; 14(7): 100537, 2021 Jul.
Background: The prevalence rates of allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma in the border region of China may be different from those in the central region of plateau grasslands. A survey was performed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors for AR, asthma, and AR combined with asthma among adults (age ≥ 20 years) residing in the southern border of plateau grasslands in northern China. Methods: From May to August 2018, a cross-sectional survey was completed by subjects that were selected using a cluster random sampling method. The subjects completed a questionnaire and were administered skin prick tests (SPTs). Risk factors for AR, asthma, and AR combined with asthma were examined by multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results: A total of 1815 adult subjects in the selected region completed study. The prevalence rates of physician-diagnosed AR, asthma, and AR combined with asthma were 13.9% (253), 9.8% (177), and 2.9% (52), respectively. Among the patients with AR, 20.6% were found to have concurrent asthma; among the patients with asthma, 29.4% were found to have concurrent AR. Artemisia and Humulus pollen were the most common sensitizing pollen types. Approximately 70% of subjects with AR and <30% of asthma patients were sensitized to Artemisia and Humulus pollen. Symptoms of AR and asthma mainly appeared during August. A multivariable logistic regression analysis identified sensitization pollen as an independent risk factor for both AR and AR combined with asthma (AR: OR = 16.23, 95% CI: 10.15-25.96; AR combined with asthma: OR = 6.16, 95% CI: 1.28-29.66). An age >40 years old, family history of asthma, moderate-to-severe AR, adverse food reactions, and mold allergies were independent risk factors for AR combined with asthma. Conclusions: This study identified the prevalence rates of AR and asthma in the southern borders of the plateau grassland in northern China (>1500 m above sea level). Sensitization pollen is an independent risk factor for AR and AR combined with asthma.
au:"Wang, Xiangdong"


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Home/People/Danielle Eubank is Painting Every Ocean to Show Climate Change
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Danielle Eubank is Painting Every Ocean to Show Climate Change
American expedition artist Danielle Eubank is attempting to bring attention to the plight of our oceans via her latest project: One Artist Five Oceans.
A recent hot topic of debate is climate change. Does it exist? What steps can we take to reduce our global impact? According to a recent study conducted by the Institute of Atmospheric Physics Chinese Academy of Science, human impact led to 2017 being the hottest recorded year. Analyses indicated this was a sign of a long term warming trend.
The United Nations Environmental program has indicated that annually $8 billion dollars of damage is done to marine ecosystems because of human plastic waste. Marine pollution consists of 80 percent plastic waste which is more than 8 million tons a year. This relates to one full garbage truck dumping per minute. At this rate by the year 2050 oceans will hold more plastic than fish.
The issue of Marine pollution and climate change is such a pressing issue that the UN has created a worldwide initiative to combat it. The initiative #CleanSeas hopes to end marine litter by targeting microplastics used in the cosmetic industry and eliminating single use plastics such as straws by 2022. The very real problem of climate change and marine pollution is causing private citizens to find creative ways to push for recognition.
American expedition artist Danielle Eubank is attempting to bring attention to the plight of our oceans via her latest project: One Artist Five Oceans. The award winning abstract oil painter is traveling to the Artic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans to illustrate the beauty of our globe's seas and the impact pollution and climate change has had on them.
Eubanks sees herself as an environmentalist and has been a lover of water since her youth in California. Eubank's has stated that she is using her art as a preferred means to show the public the damaging after effects pollution has on marine ecosystems. While visiting the Artic Ocean from Svalbard, Norway, in October 2018, she was struck by the visual of melting polar ice caps.
The rate that the oceans ice is melting is startling to her. Her favorite ocean to paint was the Indian Ocean with its beautiful variations of golden and aqua shaded hues. She wants her works to depict the beauty of the bodies of water aside the damages pollution is causing.
During Eubanks lifetime she has extensively traveled the Earths waters. She has painted 200 bodies of water in 22 countries. Her final location for her current project will be the Antarctic Circle. In February 2019 she will be travelling to the Southern Ocean.
Through out her project, Eubanks has travelled in old fashioned sea vessels to pay homage to ancient travelers. She points that ancient expeditioners did not have the luxury of photography. Instead, when explorers would travel, they would rely on self-produced sketches or on-board artists to capture their discoveries.
This historical ambience adds to the message that our oceans have been around for centuries and must be protected for future generations. Following her last stop along the Southern Ocean, an exhibition of her works will be available for viewing in May 2019 at Kwan Fong Gallery in Thousand Oaks, CA.
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Silly greens.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Forgotten 80s List Part 3
October 2, 2017 destroyerofharmonyAC/DC, Accept, Aerosmith, Australian Crawl, Guns N Roses, Kiss, Motley Crue, Mr Big, Ratt, Savatage, Tesla, Twisted Sister, Van Halen, Whitesnake, Y&T 3 Comments
Here is the playlist.
Forgotten songs from the Eighties are still on my mind. Here is another list of songs that should end up on your playlist one way or another.
The problem with the below songs is they were dwarfed by other "MTV" single songs or just bad promotion from the record label.
Out On The Streets
King Of The Fools
Twisted Sister knew which road they needed to take to make it. Now that they made it, what was next? Which road should they take? Bob Ezrin was approached to produce the album and after hearing the demos he didn't hear a hit, so he passed. Hindsight and the passage of time points to Dee losing his way and anger at the world, but to me, the songs on "Come Out and Play" (except for "Leader" and "Be Cruel") are as strong as the songs on "Stay Hungry".
I believe it was poor record label decisions to release "Leader of the Pack" as the opening single. And to be honest "Be Cruel to Your School" is one of the weaker tracks on the album for me and never should have been a single.
"Come Out And Play", "The Fire Still Burns" and "I Believe In Rock'N'Roll" are favourites of mine from the album and they got played live. "Out On The Streets" and the bonus track "King Of The Fools" do not get any love, hence they are on this list.
I've always dug a song that starts off with bass and drums. Then the vocal melody kicks in and then the guitars. "Lost Behind A Wall" from Dokken also comes to mind.
Searching for something in this human zoo
Kaleidoscope of faces, maybe, it might be you
I had to look up "kaleidoscope" in the dictionary. I had no idea what it meant. After I digested the meaning, it made the lyric even better.
Someone listen to my prayers
Can't help feeling no one cares
The biggest fear is loneliness. We want someone to care for us, even more so for people who reached the top in their chosen field.
You're out on the streets, living on your own
I've always taken this lyric to mean; away from home and the comforts of our loved ones. Look at any lyric from a rocker who spends a lot of time on the road touring and you will see how much it pains them. They turn to drugs as a supplement and sometimes when they are alone in their hotel room, away from everyone, their thoughts get the better of them.
My cousin Mega is a huge Twisted fan. He even tattooed the logo on his shoulder. So Mega had the album upon release, plus the VHS video. So I dubbed the LP on cassette and I also dubbed the VHS video onto a blank video tape until I had enough funds to purchase the original. So a few months after release, I purchased the LP. Many years later, well into the 90's I came across a CD version of "Come Out And Play" via the second hand record shops. The almost faded sticker of "Bonus Track" was enough incentive. And "King Of the Fools" is that bonus track and man what a track it is.
The harmony guitars to kick it off, remind me of "Bringin On The Heartbreak" by Def Leppard. They sound epic, grand and they set the tone for a monster of a song that for some reason, the guys in the band nor the record label didn't see fit to put on the normal album release. Sort of like how Bon Jovi left "Edge Of A Broken Heart" off the "Slippery When Wet" album and left "Social Disease" on it.
Look around me all I see
Thousands of faces wanting me
How can I lead?
How can I rule?
When I'm the king of the fools
We strive to make it, to be successful. And when we get there, we suddenly have people waiting to see what our next word will be, our next song and so forth. Suddenly doubt is everywhere. Conflict is everywhere. We turn to addictions to numb the pain. We want to be on the road, we want to be adored, we want to play shows, yet we don't want to be away from our families.
The outside world can't understand
Just who we are or what I am
Well, we don't want their life or rules
I'll be the king, king of the fools
Again, it's the us (the SMF's) vs them (the institutions, the government, the mainstream) mentality. It's the expectations of society vs the dreams of youth. We have different viewpoints, we have different needs so we are seen as fools by the institutions. If the institutions see us as fools, then our idols are our Kings'.
Fight For Your Rights
Sometimes it makes you wonder how a band with so many addictive personalities can get it together to churn out an album. "Theater of Pain" and "Girls, Girls, Girls" have a certain reputation as the "more filler" albums in Motley Crue's 80's output. It comes as no surprise that these "more filler" albums occurred at the height of the bands addictions.
But putting aside people's viewpoints, each album has a few cult like gems. On a previous "Forgotten" post, I sang the praises of "Dancin On Glass" from the "Girls" album. On this post, "Fight For Your Rights" from the "Theater" album gets some love.
How good is the intro/verse riff?
Who wrote the Bible?
Who set the laws?
Are we left to history's flaws?
We live in a world created by the religion institutions' and the ones who control the wealth. And throughout the ages of times, documents got produced on how people should live. Eventually those documents became important to the detriment of any other document that challenged it.
Fight (fight) for your rights
Dee Snider turned up to the hearings against censorship, others wrote songs about it.
Brought the truth
The color of our blood's the same
So true. We all bleed red.
So break the chains
And solve the pains
And we all become one race
It's easier said than done. These days it's everybody against everybody. People of the same colour are against people of their own colour as well as people of different races. Then you have people against people because of religious beliefs or relationship preference. Then you have people against people because of social status. In my view, money is a bigger evil today.
Waiting For Darkness
Even though Ozzy Osbourne is listed as the only songwriter, it's well known that Bob Daisley wrote the lyrics and Jake E. Lee along with Daisley wrote the music. The guitar playing is what hooked me onto this song. The palm muted staccato lines in the verses from Jake over a syncopated bass/drum groove is just brilliant. So once I unpacked the riffage, I started listening to the lyrics and the vocal melodies.
Why doesn't anybody see now?
Deafened by silence
Why doesn't anybody hear?
It's easy to place this lyric with the lifestyle of Ozzy. Due to his addictions and constant toxic state, you can imagine many days and nights spent in a drug induced darkness. Deafening silence means a lack of response that reveals something significant, such as disapproval or a lack of enthusiasm from those who surround you or love you. So you have Daisley writing about a darkness to come, and everybody is too busy to care. Sort of like how people don't care how their private data is gathered and sold by the large internet corporations. Sort of like how people don't care about net neutrality. Until it's too late.
We're hardwired to believe and understand the things we experience, so we experience the internet and we like it. But there is a battle happening over the control of the internet and people just don't care.
I know what they'll find
It's in their mind
It's what they want to see
Spare me from the light
Here comes the night
And here I'll stay waiting for darkness
This is all about people who don't care to see the truth. What they've been told from birth and from their tribe is what will remain with them forever.
Promise me rebirth
And then you tear me from the womb
Give me my freedom
And then you lock me in a tomb
The way of the world is more pure in books of fiction. The non-fiction reality version is very different. A lot of the songs I like deal with how "we believe we are free but really are not". It's not coincidental. The more I get older, the more I realise how free I'm not. Like how Hetfield sang in "The Unforgiven", "New blood joins this Earth and quickly he's subdued".
That's The Way I Wanna Rock ' N' Roll
From 1988's "Blow Up Your Video" album. It was released as a single, however "Heatseeker" was doing a decent job taking all the limelight, this little ditty got ignored.
Party gonna happen at the union hall
Shaking to the rhythm 'til everybody fall
Picking up my woman in my Chevrolet
Glory hallelujah, gonna rock the night away
The scene is set. We have Brian picking up his woman, to take her to a party at Union Hall and rock the night away until they fall.
Told boss man where to go
Turned off my brain control
That's the way I want my rock and roll
There it is again. The "We're Not Gonna Take It" call to arms. We will not be used and we will not allow the people in power to control us.
Like "Permanent Vacation" before it, "Pump" had some monster songs that stole all the glory like "Love In The Elevator", "Janie's Got A Gun", "The Other Side" and "What It Takes". And when that happens, it's easy for songs to get lost or become forgotten. But "Young Lust" is the opener. In the minds of Tyler and Perry, it was good enough back then to open the god damn "Pump" album and today it gets no listens. To me, it's just a pure party rock and roll anthem and Joey Kramer again goes to town on the drums, with his double kick underpinning the groove and tempo of the song.
A little bit o' nasty
You look a little sleazy
But don't get any on you
Is that what Bill said to Monica?
Once you had it you can never go back
It's totally wrong this lyric.
Checkin' out the ladies
Who didn't bring their boyfriends
Who love to get in trouble
I got to say I'll see you later, meet me in the elevator
Tyler's elevator fetish gets a prequel.
I'm a-pushin' and a-shovin' it
Only Tyler can get away with lyrics like these.
This one is from the "Lies" EP released I think in 1989. I can Wikipedia it, but screw it, I'm running on fumes at the moment. I remember reading the stories about the "controversial" lyrics, especially the lines around "Immigrants and faggots" and "police and niggers". But really, are the lyrics that controversial. There is always someone who gets upset at something. Basically, there is just no way one person/artist can make every single person in the world love them. It's impossible.
Police and Niggers, that's right
Get out of my way
Don't need to buy none of your
Gold chains today
Is Axl a racist?
Is he trying to address some social ills with the verse above about a class divide?
You need to remember, this song came out in 1989 and there is a good chance the lyrics were written sometime in the 80's. The L.A police during this period made a name for themselves as being pretty heavy when it came to dealing with citizens. And from the stories we kept seeing on the news, the police in L.A didn't do themselves any favours. NWA wrote a cult classic about doing something with the police in LA. All of this bubbled to the surface when a video was released of the police beating Rodney King with clubs. What happened after that? Riots in L.A. A "Hooligan's Holiday". The nigger part is playing to a stereotype and a better word could have been used, but Axl was never about conforming.
You're one in a million
Yeah, that's what you are
You're one in a million, babe
You're a shooting star
Maybe someday we'll see you
Before you make us cry
You know we tried to reach you
But you were much too high
The Chorus didn't make much sense due to the extreme nature of the verses, but many years later it does. It's basically saying, if you want to be a star, you are one of many in this world. And if you want your 15 minutes of fame, you are in competition with all of the problems of the world for people's attention.
Immigrants and faggots
They make no sense to me
They come to our country
And think they'll do as they please
Like start some mini Iran,
Or spread some disease
They talk so many goddamn ways
It's all Greek to me
What a verse?
Talk about moving a conversation forward. I remember reading how ignorant Axl is and what not because of this verse, but in the end he was speaking a truth that he saw.
Isn't that the artists credo, to knock down doors and be yourself.
I am sure millions will agree with what Axl meant about "starting a mini Iran". Each race has a small faction of people who are so far removed from the conversation, their ideology is the only way. The problem is when that race has 100 million people worldwide, 10% is a small faction as a percentage, but in people numbers it's large. And I always wonder. People come to democratic countries to escape the horrors of their own home and then they try their best to turn the streets of the democratic country that took them in, into the war torn streets of their homeland.
Radicals and Racists
Don't point your finger at me
I'm a small town white boy
Just tryin' to make ends meet
Don't need your religion
Don't watch that much TV
Just makin' my livin', baby
Well that's enough for me
If we want a better future, it helps to be able to see the world as it is. Watching a news program is seeing the world as the news program wants you to see it. Reading a news article is seeing the world as the writer of the news article wants you to see it. Seeing a Travel video is seeing the world as the people who made the travel video want you to see it. You need to get out and see with your own eyes the world. Just don't get run over by a mad man in a van.
I know it was a single, but in all seriousness, a lot of the singles from "5150" were still on the airwaves along with "When It's Love" and "Finish What Ya Started" from "OU812". "Jump" and "Panama" also had traction. So "Mine All Mine" just percolated outside the Van Hagar Halen hit factory.
The drumming is frantic, making a clichéd keyboard riff sound heavy as hell.
Oh, you've got Allah in the east
You've got Jesus in the west
Christ, what's a man to do?
The problem with the world summed up in three lines. And it all boils down to a belief system.
Stop lookin' out, start lookin' in
Be your own best friend
Stand up and say, "Hey! This is mine!"
There it is in a nutshell. Stop looking out and start looking in. Don't worry about what the person next door does or what they have. Focus on what you have and focus on what you can control. In the end, if you don't like the state of the world, with the whole world at your fingertips, you will be able to find other voices to stand up with you when the time comes to raise your voice.
How good is the guitar solo from EVH?
Sometimes he goes all crazy and plays leads with reckless abandonment and sometimes he delivers melodic gems within his own theatrical style.
Standing In The Shadow
Guilty Of Love
Kittens Got Claws
Wings Of The Storm
Is there a more broken hearted person than David Coverdale?
"Standing In The Shadow" is from 1984's "Slide It In" album and it's written by Coverdale.
I'm running away from a feeling
Hiding my face in the sand
I'm scared to love and lose again
I don't know if I can
It's that moment in time after a relationship has ended. You are hurting and you feel betrayed. Then you come across someone who rekindles the fire. But you are still hurting and after being burned once, you are fearful to jump in, just in case it leads to another broken heart.
Life is short, so you need to live it. And that means, putting the fear away.
Standing in the shadow of love
It's like sitting on the sidelines and assessing the situation for the right time to re-join the game.
"Guilty Of Love" is from the same album and how cool are the guitar harmonies at the start, which again are written by Coverdale.
I believe my love for you
Is a love that will last forever?
And I'm here to testify
I'm a prisoner of your heart
When you fall in love, your heart becomes a captive to the other half. And when the relationship ends, it hurts.
Baby, don't you believe when I tell you I love you
That I really mean it
Don't you walk away?
Don't you turn your back on me?
I guess we don't really know what we got until it's gone.
"Kittens Got Claws" is from "Slip Of The Tongue", the follow-up to the mega 1987 self-titled album. Coverdale selected Adrian Vandenberg as his co-writer for this album. It would have been interesting to see how the songs would have sounded if Coverdale used Vivian Campbell as well, but it was not to be. Regardless, Vandenberg as co-writer is involved in some epic songs. Let's not forget the title track "Slip Of The Tongue", "Judgement Day", "Sailing Ships", "Now You're Gone" and "The Deeper The Love". But to me "Kittens Got Claws" is just a fun track to listen to and tap your foot to.
Walking down the street
You're the center of my universe
You got the world in your pocket,
My manhood in your purse
You ain't a bad girl, honey,
No matter what the neighbours say,
It's just that you were those skin-tight dresses
With your G-string tuned to "A"
How good is the "G-string tuned to A" line?
"Wings Of The Storm" is another little gem largely forgotten. It's heavier and speedier and far removed from the blues based Whitesnake but man it's a pretty good listen. It's pedal point heaven for a guitarist.
On an' on, the road goes on,
An' it'll go on forever,
Time will show if you and I
Will walk that road together
Almost 6 years later, Coverdale is still in a spot of bother when it comes to his love life.
It's unfortunate that Geffen Records became a label that focused more on the results, totally ignoring the community and what customers of their artists could like. David Coverdale built a community around Whitesnake and a trust with the fans. And the labels just abandoned the artists at will. To me community and trust is more important than results, hence the reason why Whitesnake still rolls today.
Rock Me To The Top
"Rock Me To The Top" is written by vocalist Jeff Keith and estranged guitarist Tommy Skeoch. The riff is foot stomping hard rock to a tee.
I'll take command, take control
Now I see you comin' back for more
I see you like it, but you don't need it
Ooh you wanna feel it
Yep, I'm pretty sure Jeff Keith is singing about the original meaning of rock and roll and not the musical form.
"Before My Eyes" is written by guitarist Frank Hannon, along with Jeff Keith, Tommy Skeoch and drummer Troy Luccketta. To me, it's the feel of the song that captures my attention more so than the lyrics. It reminds me of Y&T and it feels sad and spacey. Lyrically I'm not a fan, but musically I am all in.
I've Had Enough
Kiss didn't sell a lot of recorded music product compared to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and other large 70's acts. But they are still seen as one of rocks biggest groups in the 70's and maybe the entertainers of that decade. But by the end of 70's and the start of the 80's they got eclipsed by Disco, New Wave Pop, the NWOBHM and the L.A scene. Suddenly it looked like the band was in the rear view mirror. Original band members "officially left" even though they really left recording new music with the band a long time again. But with each album they dropped in the 80's, they continued their evolution. "Lick It Up", "Creatures Of The Night", "I Still Love You", "I Love It Loud", "Crazy Crazy Nights" and "War Machine" are concert staples.
Here are a few gems a bit outside of Kiss's comfort zone which had enough rock in em to keep me satisfied.
"Tomorrow" and "Naked City" come from the "Unmasked" album released in 1980. Both tracks merge the current pop trend with the distorted rock they are known for. I was late to the party on this album, hearing it in its entirety in the early 90's.
"Tomorrow" is written by Paul Stanley and Vince Poncia and Stanley even plays bass guitar. You need any more evidence of dysfunction, here you have it.
I didn't know just what to say
When you turned and you looked my way
It doesn't happen to me every day
Can we talk a while?
I used to think that all of the rock stars had all the lines and moves covered when it came to love. In the end, they are all tongue-tied and error prone like all of us when it comes to love.
You didn't have to say a word
I tried to tell you, but I lost my nerve
You know I wanted just to slip away
For a little while
An opportunity missed. Who hasn't been there?
"Naked City" is written by a song writing committee of Gene Simmons, Vince Poncia, Bob Kulick and Pepe Castro. This one is an interesting track. It's got a super heavy bass riff and that riff continues throughout the song. However the guitars set the vibe. In the Chorus its all "Arena Rock" and in the intro/verses it's a "reggae shuffle". And when it comes together it all works.
In the naked city (in the city)
There are ten million stories (naked city)
Once upon a time, stories travelled by word of mouth and the press. Now stories travel via a cable all around the world in a matter of seconds. It each city, millions of people live their lives and a new story is created every second.
Lonely people looking' for someone
Lonely people going' their way
It sums up life to a tee. We are all lonely people looking for someone to be with us to the end. We are all lonely people trying to find our way in life. Hopefully with someone.
"Exciter" is the opening track to the "Lick It Up" album in 1983. It's a speed metal song and Vinnie Vincent brings out the metal and the shred and the delay. Actually what a waste of a great talent the Vinnie Vincent story is. His ego burned so many bridges; eventually people just turned away and refused to work with him. Even his record label turned him down and dropped him.
Passion and fire, lust and desire
Pleasure and pain, this is my name
Enough said. The lyrics are a waste and fail to deliver justice to the riffage.
"I've Had Enough" is also the opening track from "Animalise" released in 1984. It's written by Desmond Child and Paul Stanley. Stanley was always an underrated guitarist who actually churned out some killer riffage in his 40 plus years creating music. Mark St John (RIP) just copied what Stanley wrote and played it on the album. Or maybe Mark just did the leads, while Paul did all the rhythm, sort of like how James Hetfield does all the harmonies and rhythms, while Kirk does all the solos.
How many times have they lied with the truth in their eyes?
Treat you like dirt, wasting the days of our lives
They try and deny it, ain't gonna buy it, just look around
Before it's all over, it's gonna get rough
I always assumed the "they" in the song are people who abuse their power, people who put you down, people who make your life hell, people who you trust the most talking crap about you behind your back and so forth.
(Out of the cold, into the fire)
Nothing and no one is stopping me now
Attitude is the most important choice we have to make every single day. We have the choice to be optimistic, the choice to participate, and the choice to challenge the powers that be and find hope when fear and uncertainty is rampant. We select these attitudes. It's our choice and when we do, nothing can stop us.
Wishing' and hoping' won't get you nothing'
Praying' and scheming', no time for dreaming'
I've got the power, this is the hour now
You need to take action. If you don't take action, nothing will transpire. A small change today leads to a large change in the future. Are you ready to make the change?
"King Of The Mountain" is the opening track from "Asylum" released in 1985 and the first album to feature Bruce Kulick. Kulick actually co-wrote the song with Desmond Child and Paul Stanley and the music is very close to "Creatures Of The Night". It's funny how a simple guitar riff sounds so heavy because of the drum groove laid down by Eric Carr.
I'm gonna climb the mountain
I'm gonna hit the top
I wanna go where nobody's ever been
I'm never gonna stop
Isn't that the spirit of human adventure? Reach the top, go where nobody's ever been.
I'm the king of the mountain
And the winner takes it all
The bane of any existence is laziness and fear, the belief that we can't make it so were better off not trying. We can make excuses because we are surrounded winners doing everything. In reality, nothing in our daily lives is a winner takes all competition. Yeah, there always be someone smarter, faster and more popular than you. And you will be smarter, faster and more popular than others. And those others you are far ahead are far ahead of others and so forth. The difference is how high is each individual mountain?
How good is the lead break from Kulick?
Man he shreds tastefully. Still his moment of guitar hero glory came on the much hated, or tolerated or loved album (depending on which side of the fence you sit) "Crazy Nights" which came two years after "Asylum".
"My Way" is written by Desmond Child, Paul Stanley and Bruce Turgon (he played bass in Warrior, played bass and co-write most of the songs on Lou Gramm's solo releases plus Shadow King's 1991 release and Foreigner's 1994 album) and it comes from the keyboard heavy "Crazy Nights" released in 1987. Depending on your point of view, this album is hated, tolerated or loved. And this song is also hated, tolerated or loved.
Oh the heat is on
And my back's against the wall
You know it's tough to be strong
In a world that makes you crawl
Clichéd. Yes. Original. No. Commercial. Yes. Sounds like Kiss. Umm, it sounds like Kiss in the 80's. The lyrical message has been done to death about being strong and being yourself in a world that's controlled by institutions who want you to be something else.
I'm gonna talk like I talk
Walk like I walk my way
I'm gonna go where I go
Ain't takin' no, my way
It's easy to silence your voice. We've been battered by all the noise, problems and hassle that come with raising our voice. So sometimes we just sit back because it's easier. Eventually, we find our voice again and as the Chorus goes, we will talk like we talk and walk like we walk and we will do it on our terms and our way.
What about Stanley's highs in this one. Do you reckon he had someone in the studio squeezing his balls to hit those highs?
"Silver Spoon" comes from 1989's "Hot In The Shade" and Paul Stanley had come full circle writing with Vince Poncia again. Like "Crazy Nights" this album is hated, tolerated or loved.
In a city where the buildings rise
I was just another face
But mama told me when somebody dies
No one else can take your place
It's a really cool verse. I don't know who came up with those lines but they are pretty solid and full of truth. In cities that have millions of people, we are all just bodies and faces in a sea of faces. But each person is unique and they bring their own light to this world. Our thoughts are all different and when we pass, our light goes out and no one can replicate it.
It's a shame the rest of the song didn't follow a similar lyrical thread. Instead it went to a girl, with an attitude because she was born with a silver spoon.
Had Enough
It's the feel of the song. It's like a ballad but it's not a ballad. Having super shredders like Gilbert and Sheehan colouring the song with some great rhythms is great to hear.
Ain't like any other day
Finally comes a time to decide
I won't spend another day
Stuck here in the same old bind
The first two verses could be about any life situation and then the song devolves into a relationship situation. Missed opportunity to connect much wider.
What's It Gonna Be
It's from 1988's "Reach For The Sky" album and it's written by Robbin Crosby, Juan Croucier, Warren DeMartini, Beau Hill and Stephen Pearcy.
The promises were empty and your blood runs cold
So tell me
What's it gonna be, sweet Elena
Just give it to me straight, is it him or me?
I can't remember if Elena was Peacy's wife, but the question is simple, what's it gonna be?
Rock And Roll's Gonna Save The World
Y&T is one of those bands that just hook me with their sense of melody and feel. "Rock and Roll's Gonna Save The World" is from their 1984 album called "In Rock We Trust".
Kings and queens and presidents
Are tryin' to take the world in hand
Jokers and freaks and Arab sheiks
Are fightin' over chunks of sand
The same problems that exist today existed 30 years ago and way before that. Guess they never really went away.
Rock & Roll's gonna save the world
Don't you know that's the way we're gonna change it?
We believed we could change the world. Then we got jobs and got loans and became exactly what the institutions wanted us to be. Slaves by choice.
Tin soldiers march around the world
No matter what the people say
One man makes all the policies
While the rest of us get blown away
It's what our leaders are fighting about right now. Who should make the policies? Who should tell others what to do? And democratically elected leaders want to dictate how people should live and then they take up arms against dictators. Ironic isn't it.
Gutter Ballet
When The Crowds Are Gone
Summer's Rain
All the songs are written by the holy trinity of Criss Oliva (RIP), Jon Oliva and Paul O'Neill (RIP).
Another sleepless night
A concrete paradise
Sirens screaming in the heat
Neon cuts the eye
As the jester sighs
At the world beneath his feet
It's that click track piano that makes it unique as Jon sings about the way of the streets in a circus setting.
Another death to mourn
Another child is born
Another chapter in the play
The cycle of life, a death, a birth and a new story to tell.
How good is the instrumental lead break section in the song?
"When The Crowds Are Gone" is the song that sealed the deal, the song that made me love the album. It's the vocal outro, the lyrics and Jon Olvia's vocal delivery. The outro is that good, Savatage used it for other songs on future albums. It's easy to get caught up in it.
I don't know where the years have gone
Memories can only last so long
Like faded photographs, forgotten songs
Artists who have been on the road for a long time, miss out on so much from their personal lives. It's a sacrifice.
Where's the light, turn then on again
One more night to believe and then
Another note for my requiem
A memory to carry on
The story's over when the crowds are gone
When the crowds are gone, the career of an artist is over. When the show is over and the crowds are gone, the night is over and the journey begins to a new city and a new show.
All my friends have been crucified
They made life a long suicide true
Guess we never figured out the rules
But I'm still alive and my fingers feel
I'm gonna play on till the final reel's through
And read the credits from a different view
It's about a clarinet player who chooses to retire from playing on his own terms. But in the song, his own terms are too late, because as the song goes, the crowds are no longer there.
I never wanted to know
Never wanted to see
I wasted my time till time wasted me
Never wanted to go
Always wanted to stay
Cause the person I am are the parts that I play
So I play and I plan
And hope and I scheme
To the lure of a night
Filled with unfinished dreams
And I'm holding on tight
To a world gone astray
The big ending and it works so well with the music, the vocal melody and the pain in Jon Oliva's voice as the clarinet player finally understands it's all over.
In "Hounds", Criss Oliva becomes a guitar hero with some wicked riffage and wicked shredding.
Do you hear the hounds they call
Scan the dark eyes aglow
Through the bitter rain and cold
They hunt you down
Hunt you down
The word "hounds" is just another word for the predatory people in our lives. And if we are not too careful, eventually they will hunt us down. Of course the song is about hounds, but it's very easy to interchange the two.
How good is that melody lead under the chorus vocal melody in "Summers Rain"?
Standing alone in a dream
Where nothing is real
But oh how real it feels
There were times I lost my way
I was alone, lost in a haze
I'll find you somehow
A song about a relationship that doesn't sound clichéd and lazy.
And do I stand alone
Like a fool out in the rain
Hanging on somehow
To an ancient vow
Where there's nothing left to gain
And do you know
How it feels inside
To be all alone
A fool and his pride
When you don't want to let go, even though the other half has already moved on. But life is more about doors closing, not opening. And when doors close and new opens open we are forced to go in a certain direction.
It is 1999
The human race has to face it
They are confronted with the truth
It's secret — mysterious
For Accept the truth is and always will be heavy metal. But in all seriousness, the human race needs to confront the truth and make some changes. Our planet is warming. There is no way people can deny it. The normal winds we get are more destructive and last longer than ever before. The rain that falls is a lot more destructive than ever before.
Downhearted
Reckless – Don't Be So
Australian Crawl
I left my heart back in the Orient
Down on Bali bays
It's not the way that I should feel
But it's the way I'm gonna stay
Broken dreams that never really started
Holiday romances and the feeling of loneliness when you get back home. Back in the 80's once you left, the connection was lost. Not like in today's connected world. And Australian's always go to Bali for a holiday. It's seen as a cheap overseas holiday.
In "Reckless", the band maps out the journey into Sydney from Manly via the ferry via the first verse.
Meet me down by the jetty landing
Where the pontoons bump and sway
I see the others reading, standing
As the Manly Ferry cuts its way to Circular Quay
Anyone who has done the ferry journey can relate to the above.
So, throw down your guns
Don't be so reckless
The iconic chorus lines. Don't be so reckless to destroy a relationship that took years to build.
Finally, we have the pub rock classic. In steel city Wollongong, we always assumed "The Boys Light Up" meant lighting up a reefer. It wasn't until I was in my 30's that I really unpacked the lyrics and found some brilliant lines.
Silently she opens the drawer
Mother's little helper is coming out for more
Strategically positioned before the midday show
Her back is arched; those lips are parched, repeated blow by blow
Mmm, I wonder what mothers little helper is. Zzzzzzzzz…
Later at the party
All the MPs rave
About the hummers she's been givin'
And the money that they save
To her it is skin lotion
Him promotion to
That flat in Surfers' Paradise with the ocean view
For all of the political scandals that made headline news from the late Nineties onwards, the above verse seemed prophetic to say the least. Seriously, what a creative, tongue in cheek verse. And all Australians know Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast.
I guess the boys lighting up is all about getting hard and coming alive.
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3 thoughts on "Forgotten 80s List Part 3"
Curtis R Olson says:
For all the flack Sammy has taken over the year as a light weight and unworthy of the VH seat, I say the lyrics and passion on Mine All Mine should leave no doubt of his role. That song is one of the most intelligent and rocking songs in their catalog. Period. A killer opener to OU812.
mikeslayen says:
Wow a lot of those titles take me back to a forgetting period the late 80s…nice!!
Pingback: Forgotten 80s Part 4 | destroyerofharmony


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text:
package design.patterns.visitor;

public class Truck extends Vehicle {
	private final int load;

	public Truck(String name, int load) {
		super(name);
		this.load = load;
	}

	public int getLoad() {
		return this.load;
	}

	@Override
	public void accept(Visitor visitor) {
		visitor.visitTruck(this);
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
package org.jfedor.nxtremotecontrol;

import android.content.Context;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.widget.ImageButton;

public class SquareImageButton extends ImageButton {

    public SquareImageButton(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
    }

    public SquareImageButton(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
    }

    public SquareImageButton(Context context) {
        super(context);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) {
        int width = MeasureSpec.getSize(widthMeasureSpec);
        int height = MeasureSpec.getSize(heightMeasureSpec);

        if (width > height) {
            width = height;
        } else {
            height = width;
        }

        super.onMeasure(
                MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(width, MeasureSpec.EXACTLY),
                MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(height, MeasureSpec.EXACTLY)
        );
    }

}


text:
Tossing Away the Keys
The Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola Prison, is a sprawling old plantation on the Mississippi River. It was named, long ago, for the birthplace of the slaves who were brought here to work the land.
Now, Angola holds more than five-thousand prisoners, mostly African Americans. It still has the look of another time: long straight lines of black men march to work along the levees with shovels over their shoulders. They are trailed by guards on horseback, shotguns resting in their laps.
It used to be that a life sentence in Louisiana meant a maximum of ten years and six months behind bars. But, in the 1970s, the state's politicians changed the definition. A life sentence in Louisiana now means just that. Unless they're pardoned by the Governor, inmates today know they will never again see the outside world — that they will die inside Angola prison. Tossing Away the Keys is their story.
Recorded in Angola, Louisiana. Premiered April 29, 1990, on Weekend All Things Considered.
Update on Tossing Away the Keys
After the broadcast of Tossing Away the Keys, some of the prisoners profiled in the documentary were released from Angola.
Moreese Bickham, who spent 14 years on death row, was released from Angola in January 1996 after the Governor of Louisiana commuted his sentence to 75 years.He spends his days fishing near his home in Kalamath Falls, Oregon. In December, 2002 he lost his wife of 65 years, Ernestine.
Joe White was released from Angola in 1992, graduated from community college in Los Angeles, and is launching a career as a poet. He recorded an audio update for Sound Portraits in 1999.
Wilbert Rideau was granted freedom on January 9, 2005, after 44 years behind bars.
Ron Wikberg, associate editor of The Angolite, was released from Angola in 1994 and moved to Maryland to marry Kay Smith. He died of cancer shortly thereafter.
Donald Buffet died at the Louisiana State Penitentiary.
Henry Patterson died at the Louisiana State Penitentiary.
Monroe Green died on October 10th, 2004 at the Earl K. Long Medical Center in Baton Rouge after a 39-year confinement. He was buried in his hometown, where the funeral service was attended by dozens of family member and friends.
This documentary comes from Sound Portraits Productions, a mission-driven independent production company that was created by Dave Isay in 1994. Sound Portraits was the predecessor to StoryCorps and was dedicated to telling stories that brought neglected American voices to a national audience.
David Isay, Wilbert Rideau, and Ron Wikberg
GUARD: Wake up call. Let's go. Get up.
(Sound of guard clinking his club against bars. Cell doors slide open.)
WILBERT RIDEAU: Welcome to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.
My name is Wilbert Rideau, and this has been my home for the past 30 years. I'm serving a life sentence here for a murder I committed during a bank robbery in 1961. I'm also a journalist. For the past 14 years I've edited the prison magazine The Angolite.
While Alcatraz and Attica, Sing Sing and San Quentin are all part of the American vocabulary — you may well never have heard of Angola. But, hidden at the end of a long road in the most remote part of Louisiana, this prison has a history unlike any other. In the 1950s it was officially labeled the worst prison in the country. In the 1970s, daily inmate murders branded it the bloodiest.
Angola doesn't look like your typical maximum security prison — it's a sprawling prison plantation, stretching for miles in all directions — with fields, creeks, lakes and woods. The prison is surrounded on three sides by the Mississippi River — the fourth by rattle-snake infested hills. Most of us live within the huge main prison complex — enclosed by 14 foot high fences, reinforced with endless loops of razor wire, guard towers and an army of security personnel.
Behind these fences there's a massive, unprecedented experiment taking place — the state is locking up large numbers of men and throwing away the keys so that age and eventually die behind bars. Traditionally most prisoners serving life sentences have had the opportunity to go free after about ten years. But in the early 1970s, Louisiana politicians came upon, what was then, a novel idea. They decided to make life sentences in Louisiana mean precisely that — they did away with the possibility of parole.
Today there are more than 2,500 men serving this so-called 'natural-life' sentence here at Angola. A number have now been here for some 30 years. Of those who've survived, most are in their 50s or 60s or 70s — the first generation of lifers to reach their twilight behind bars.
(Sound of Moreese Bickham clipping roses.)
MOREESE BICKHAM: Come over here. I want to introduce you to the beautifulest rosebush on the whole yard. This one right here is my favorite. I named it after my wife, Ernestine. It's a beautiful pink rose, and some way or another I keep it trimmed and uniform. I call it "My Beauty." I know it sound funny, but these is my company keepers. I enjoy these bushes. See if it wasn't for these bushes, I wouldn't have nothing to do. So these bushes have come to be close — very close to me.
My name is Moreese Bickham, my number is 75251, and I'm 72 years old. I've been in prison every since 1958. My crime is murder of two white deputies in a small town called Mandeville. They was dragons of the Ku Klux Klan and I was a black man living in a white neighborhood and they came to my house to kill me, and they shot me with my hands up and I fell and loaded my gun and I shot 'em. So here I am, 31 years later and I'm still locked up.
I remember when my first gray hair came in my head, I was in prison in 1960. It was right up front where I could see it good. By 1961 I had one in my mustache, by '63 I had gray hairs all over my head. I've had three heart attacks since I've been here — the big one happened in 1977 when the pardon board turned me down. Lost all my teeth since I've been here, my eyesight went bad. I have high blood pressure, poor blood circulation. Yea'– watchin' myself pass away, die a little bit every day here in prison.
HENRY PATTERSON: My name is Henry L. Patterson, my prison number's 54915, I've been at Angola for 30 years. I'm serving a life sentence for a murder I committed in a barroom fight.
You know, you know you gonna age, but then one day a young guy walk up to you — "Hey, Pop." And you get offended at first, "What you mean Pop? You know my name, don't call me no Pop, man!" But then, you go lay back a little bit you sit down and you analyze it, and you say, "Well, I am Pop now. I'm old, I'm gray, and I'm no longer Patterson, I'm Pop Patterson."
MONROE GREEN: I'm Monroe Green, I'm 57 years old, my number is 62694. I've been at Angola for 24 years and 6 months, serving a life sentence for rape. In the morning, all the younger men will crowd the mirrors, none of us older men will even use a mirror to shave in. It took me a while to figure it out, but we don't like to see ourselves growing older each day.
BICKHAM: Since I been locked up, I lost all my family mostly. I can see losing my mother and father, but all my sisters, and brothers? All my aunts and uncles? God bless me now. The judge is dead, the D.A.'s dead. The lawyer's dead. Everybody's passed on but me. And when I look at it I say, "Lord, why am I still here?" It makes you wonder.
(Angola Gospel Superiors singing "Time is Now.")
RIDEAU: Most long-termers adapt to prison life by immersing themselves completely in some sort of activity — it's our way of escaping the reality of our situation. Some loose themselves in religion, or sports, or music; others in violence and drugs.
I lost myself in writing. I educated myself on death row, where I lived from the age of 19 until I was 31. Although religious literature was all we were allowed to read in a death row cell, some guards managed to smuggle books to me — I read everything I could get my hands on, and began to write. In 1972, when the Supreme Court overturned the death penalty, I left death row, and three years later became editor of the prison magazine, The Angolite.
(Sound of typing in TheAngolite office.)
Our cramped office is down the hall from the main prison control center, near cell blocks C and D. Here six of us work at old office furniture to turn out the bi-monthly magazine. At the desk next to mine sits associate editor Ron Wikberg, who's serving a life sentence for a murder committed during an armed robbery. It was Ron's in-depth study of long-termers which brought national attention to the very real possibility that Angola will soon become the nation's largest old-folks home.
RON WIKBERG: The old-timers here at Angola are in a state of semi-retirement. Instead of working in the fields like they had for many years, they've turned in their hoes and shovels for canes, wheelchairs, crutches. They wear glasses, they wear false teeth. The prison management gives them menial assignments — cleaning doorknobs, washing windows, sweeping floors. They shuffle from place to place. They're no longer productive, and non-productive prisoners are kind of pushed to the side. This is a place of hard labor, this is a place where prisoners are required to work. Prisoners who can't work are kind of put to the side, and just allowed to exist.
RIDEAU: There are now hundreds of elderly prisoners "existing" here at Angola. Most are housed with the general prison population — some confined to their beds, many subject to theft and harassment from younger inmates. Those just too old or sick live on the over-crowded wards of the prison hospital — stretching the Angola's healthcare budget far past its limits.
These long-termers have now spent more time in prison than the country's most infamous criminals and gangsters. Many have in their own right committed very, very serious offenses. But no matter the crime, no matter whether or not they've changed over the decades here at Angola, there's no way out for them.
WIKBERG: The long-termers were put in prison 20 and 30 years ago, they have been forgotten about in prison. And that is where the problem begins. There is no mechanism to recognize when a person becomes rehabilitated, and at that point some effort should be made to move them out of the system. It is that lack of this mechanism which has allowed the lifer population to increase 300% in just ten years here in Louisiana, and this problem is not just in Louisiana, it's nation-wide.
(Sound of Lifers' Association meeting.)
CHAIR OF LIFERS' ASSOCIATION (addressing meeting): If you wouldn't mind rising and remove the headgear — please repeat after me: "We, the members of the Lifers' Association of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, Louisiana, join together for the improvement of ourselves and society."
(Crowd repeats.)
"We have love in our hearts, for all men. Hope in our spirit that our wrongs will be overshadowed by our rights."
RIDEAU: The Lifers' Association meets on the last Tuesday of every month, here in the visiting room. Support groups, like this one, are filled to capacity — with many inmates on their waiting lists.
Newly incarcerated lifers need only look to the old faces and pained eyes of the long-termers to understand the nightmare which lies in store for them.
CHAIR OF LIFERS' ASSOCIATION (reciting pledge): "No matter how dark the night we believe in the coming of the day." Thank you, gentlemen.
(Sound of cell door closing.)
DONALD BUFFETT: My name is Donald Buffett and people calls me "Frog." My number: 57391. I've been at Angola for the past 28 years serving a life sentence for the rape of a white woman. The best way I can describe Angola for us long-timers is that it's something out of science fiction.
JOE WHITE: My name is Joe White, my number's 56310. I've been incarcerated for murder here in Angola since 1961.
I've been here so long it's difficult to imagine how it feels to be free. I don't think people can conceive what it means to spend all your life in prison.
PATTERSON: I find technology amazing, I don't know for sure but they say they got superhighways now, okay, where you bypass the cities and all, so you don't have to slow down any — you just, straight through. And I never rode on no superhighway, you know it huh — I wouldn't even know what to do if I got on one. They say you got lanes that you get in, they say "fast," "slow" . . . and you look at all these things you say "Boy, this is amazing!"
WHITE: If you were buried alive, that's what it would be like. Except for the television, we wouldn't know that there's a world out there; except for the radios, we wouldn't know. We actually come here, and when we come here everything stops. This, this is a graveyard. A graveyard of time.
PATTERSON: I feel like my life have been frozen in time. Like the Cosby show. I look at those kind of shows and I wonder sometime, "Is it fiction? Is it really real?" You know, because I can only relate to that which I came out of in '61, and when I came here in '61, the restaurants were segregated. When I caught a bus, I caught the back end of the bus, I had to go to the back, I couldn't sit in the front. You look at the changes from that time that you stopped, and they say, "Well, they doing this today, they doing that," and you wonder, "Is it real? That's for real there man?"
WHITE: The living dead, that's an accurate description of it, because the things that it takes to live, to feel life, we not in contact with that. We fantasize. That's all we have left is our fantasies and our dreams, and this is what a lot of people rely on to make it.
GREEN: I often picture my son in my mind's eye. The last time I saw him he was ten years old, and now he's 35. I often imagine the scene of when James and I face each other the first time. What will I do? Will we move towards each other? Will I be able to hug him? What response will I get from that hug? Will it be — will it be a loving hug? This picture runs over and over in my mind. It's like a dream that occurs over and over and over.
WHITE: It's as if you don't exist, it's like you in a spirit and everything around you is alive, and you can't touch, you can't reach, you can't do anything but just look. We can't touch people lives, we can't touch their lives. That's what tears us up, we can't touch their lives.
(White begins to sob.)
RIDEAU: Recently some disturbing things have begun to happen here, even by Angola's standards.
It started a year ago, with a long-term inmate named Francis Clifton. After serving 27 years of a life sentence for murder at Angola, Clifton had a most comfortable prison job. He was moved outside the razor-wire fences of the main prison complex, in a house here at the 'Pens, where he tended Angola's blood hounds and attack dogs. At 52, he could have served the rest of his sentence free of chains and guards. But last April, Clifton ran. For five days he hid in the hills, evading the blood hounds which he, better than anyone, knew would eventually catch up with him. On the fifth day, exhausted, Clifton walked out of the hills, flagged down a car and turned himself in.
FRANCIS CLIFTON: When you finally realize you're going to die here, it just starts working on your mind. It's a terrible feeling just know you're going to stay here till you die.
RIDEAU: Clifton has spent the year since his capture in solitary confinement.
CLIFTON: In spite of all the other fears and problems out there, and the worries on my mind, the guards running all over the place with guns chasing me, and knowing I could be shot at any time, I still was able to enjoy that little bit of freedom, after 28 years. . . Eh, well.. . .
RIDEAU: A few weeks later, it happened again. Long-term inmate Donald Fink was being marched into the fields for a day's work. Suddenly, he turned and began to walk away. "I'm going home," he said, and as he started to run, the guards lifted their guns, aimed and fired.
Things got worse from there. Angola erupted in an unprecedented epidemic of attempted escapes, suicides and killings. Many involved old-timers, traditionally the most stable inmates at the prison. By mid-summer 1989, a federal judge was forced to declare a "State of Emergency" here. That order is still in effect today — and the desperate acts continue . . . as hopelessness creeps through the tiers and cell blocks of Angola.
HILTON BUTLER: To me, I think life without the possibility of pardon or parole — if you know you have no hope for pardon or parole — would be worse than the death sentence. If you know you're gonna die at Angola. . .
RIDEAU: Hilton Butler was warden here until the state of emergency was declared last August. Butler had worked at Angola for forty years, but when things started getting out of hand, he was fired.
BUTLER: I'm no softy — I gave the signal for the switch to be pulled eleven times when I was warden, but I feel that what's going on at Angola now is wrong. You have to give an inmate hope. When he's lost hope, he's lost everything.
RIDEAU: In today's political climate the last hope for lifers — a pardon from the governor — has all but disappeared. A year ago, Louisiana's Governor Buddy Roemer let Christmas pass without granting a single clemency — it was the first time that this had happened in the state's history. Here, prisoners finally began to comprehend the grim reality of natural life sentences. For many — particularly the older men — the fragile illusion of eventual freedom crumbled.
BUFFETT: Since I was convicted of rape 28 years ago, I've had a recommendation from the pardon board six times to go, even the victim have asked for my release, but yet the governor still refuse to let me go. So it seem that, you know we gonna die here.
BICKHAM: "Point Lookout" — we sometimes call it "Boot Hill," is a place where they bury the dead. Old timers think about it a right good deal but they don't talk about it much, because they 'fraid that they might get buried out there. See if you buried out there, you really forgotten. 'Cause nobody comes here to see you — nobody even passes by boot hill.
PATTERSON: When you die at Angola, you don't die as "Henry Patterson lies here." You die as "554915 is in the ground up there." I don't want to die a number, I don't want to die an insignificant number. A prison number — nah.
GREEN: I don't want to die here and be forgotten. I don't want to spend my last moment on earth here in penitentiary. I would like to see the outside once more. We're trying to hold onto a little faith, but it's constantly deteriorating.
WHITE: When you start to realize that you're never going to leave this place, hopelessness begins to take hold of your time. It's like a disease — everybody around you have it, and it's just a matter of time until you'll be next. That's the torture. Not giving us hope.
(Fade up on Angola Gospel Superiors singing "It's Late in the Evening.")
People always ask me to recite this particular poem, and the reason I believe they do is because it touches something inside of them. It's called "Just Thinking."
("Just Thinking: Prisoners' Song")
I want to drift along, sing a song, get high off memories.
I want to get to know just once more how it feels to be free.
I want rip and run, have a lot of fun, come go as I please.
I want to sleep real late, give myself a break, put my mind at ease.
I want to go strange places, meet new faces, make myself at home.
I want to reach behind, reclaim what's mine, forget I was ever gone.
I want to stretch out my arms, air out my lungs, get out of my system this. . . this inhibition.
I don' t know what I want to do, to tell you the truth, I was just thinking, just thinking.
WHITE (whispering): I sure, I sure wish this thing would come to an end.
RIDEAU: From the Louisiana State Penitentiary, I'm Wilbert Rideau.
"Kneeling over his body, all I could hear was, 'I may not get there with you.'"
Clara Jean Ester, 72, remembers bearing witness to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s final speech in 1968, and rushing to his side the next day when he was assassinated.
"He could take something mundane like that and see the magic in it."
"Just do what's in your heart. Do what's right and have fun."
Rosella Pearl Liscum, 93, tells her daughter, Marlene Watson, about some of her most treasured relationships, and the lessons she learned along the way.
"To be in the service for my country is the greatest thing I thought I did."
Navy veteran Joseph Patton, 81, remembers his service and the discrimination he faced as a gay man in the 1950s.


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