At 14: 28 on 12 May 2008, Sichuan Province of China suffered a devastating earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale with more than 80 000 human lives lost and millions displaced. With inadequate shelter, poor access to health services, and disrupted ecology, the survivors were at enormous risk of infectious disease outbreaks. This work, believed to be unprecedented, was carried out to contain a possible outbreak through onsite monitoring of airborne biological agents in the high-risk areas. In such a mission, a mobile laboratory was developed using a customized vehicle along with state-of-art bioaerosol and molecular equipment and tools, and deployed to Sichuan 11 days after the earthquake. Using a high volume bioaerosol sampler (RCS High Flow) and Button Inhalable Aerosol Sampler equipped with gelatin filters, a total of 55 air samples, among which are 28 filter samples, were collected from rubble, medical centers, and camps of refugees, troops and rescue workers between 23 May and 9 June, 2008. After pre-treatment of the air samples, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), gel electrophoresis, limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were applied to detect infectious agents and to quantify environmental toxins and allergens. The results revealed that, while high levels of endotoxin (180 similar to 975 ng/m(3)) and (1,3)-beta-D-glucans (11 similar to 100 ng/m(3)) were observed, infectious agents such as Bacillus anthracis, Bordetella pertussis, Neisseria meningitidis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, influenza A virus, bird flu virus (H5N1), enteric viruses, and Meningococcal meningitis were found below their detection limits. The total bacterial concentrations were found to range from 250 to 2.5 x 10(5) DNA copies/L. Aspergillus fumigatus (Asp f 1) and dust mite allergens (Der p 1 and Der f 1) were also found below their detection limits.
The water supply to Chinese cities is increasingly degrading from pollution due to watershed activities. Consequently, water source protection requires urgent action using optimal land-use management efforts. An inexact linear programming model for optimal land-use management of surface water source area was developed. The model was proposed to balance the economic benefits of land-use development and water source protection. The maximum net economic benefit (NEB) was chosen as the objective of land-use management. The total environmental capacity (TEC) of rivers and the minimum water supply (MWS) were considered key constraints. Other constraints included forest coverage, government requirements concerning the proportions of various land-use types, soil loss, slope lands, and technical constraints. A case study was conducted for the Songhuaba Watershed, a reservoir supplying water to Kunming City, the third largest city in southwestern China. A 15-year (2006 to 2020) optimal model for land-use management was developed to better protect this water source and to gain maximum benefits from development. Ten constraints were involved in the optimal model, and results indicated that NEB ranged between 893 and 1,459 million US\$. The proposed model will allow local authorities to better understand and address complex land-use systems and to develop optimal land-use management strategies for balancing source water protection and local economic development.