Final technical report for the young marriage and parenthood study (YMAPS)

The study aims to generate new research evidence of international relevance on child marriage, towards improving programs and policies addressing life course poverty and gender inequality. This summary report draws from country team reports and country-specific policy briefs. It situates early marriage, cohabitation, and parenthood within a broader social and societal framework. Research activities were interwoven in a wider process of policy discussions and dissemination workshops as well as cross-cutting comparative analyses aimed at a global audience. Across all settings pertaining to the young marriage and parenthood study (YMAPS) there is lack of access among adolescents to the support, services and information they need in terms of contraception.University of Oxfor

Aerobic Biodegradation of Methyl tert-Butyl Ether by Aquifer Bacteria from Leaking Underground Storage Tank Sites

The potential for aerobic methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) degradation was investigated with microcosms containing aquifer sediment and groundwater from four MTBE-contaminated sites characterized by oxygen-limited in situ conditions. MTBE depletion was observed for sediments from two sites (e.g., 4.5 mg/liter degraded in 15 days after a 4-day lag period), whereas no consumption of MTBE was observed for sediments from the other sites after 75 days. For sediments in which MTBE was consumed, 43 to 54% of added [U-(14)C]MTBE was mineralized to (14)CO(2). Molecular phylogenetic analyses of these sediments indicated the enrichment of species closely related to a known MTBE-degrading bacterium, strain PM1. At only one site, the presence of water-soluble gasoline components significantly inhibited MTBE degradation and led to a more pronounced accumulation of the metabolite tert-butyl alcohol. Overall, these results suggest that the effects of oxygen and water-soluble gasoline components on in situ MTBE degradation will vary from site to site and that phylogenetic analysis may be a promising predictor of MTBE biodegradation potential