Summary Nest boxes are commonly installed to support hollow‐using species where the abundance of hollow‐bearing trees is deficient. Recent studies have provided equivocal evidence about the effectiveness of nest box projects and have highlighted significant management costs associated with some projects. We document the functionality of 303 nest boxes installed across five different community‐led projects in southern Australia for periods of 10–25 years. As expected, we found that nest boxes lost functionality over time. However, 60% remained functional to support the Brush‐tailed Phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa) and the Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps) after almost 20 years. Years installed, method of nest box attachment and tree species influenced whether boxes remained functional. Nest box construction material changed over time so could not be assessed specifically. When inspected in a single year, the Brush‐tailed Phascogale occupied 9% of functional boxes and another 48% contained their nests. The Sugar Glider occupied 15% of functional boxes and another 22% contained their nests. These values suggest the nest box installations were highly effective for these species, although more detailed study is needed to understand what contribution these installations have made to support the local populations. Maintenance of most nest boxes occurred twice a year in the first five years after installation, but many received no maintenance for periods of three years, and some 10–15 years, before our census. Our findings suggest that infrequent maintenance by community groups can sustain nest box projects over periods of several decades. Research into employing nest boxes as a management tool in Australia is still in its infancy. Further studies are needed to resolve factors that limit their effectiveness.

Cervical cancer (CaCx) is strongly associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, particularly HPV types 16 and 18. The constitutive expression of HPV E6 and E7 proteins in CaCx makes them attractive targets for CTL based immunotherapy. However cervical carcinomas may have features, e.g., antigen processing defects, that limit the effectiveness of HPV specific CTL. Furthermore most vaccine development has concentrated on HPV type 16, and it is not clear whether such vaccines could induce CTL able to cross-react on related oncogenic HPV types, e.g., HPV31 and 52. To investigate these potentially important parameters in vitro, we used a CTL (D4) specific for HPV16 E7 11-20 . D4 was able to kill a variety of HPV16؉ CaCx cell lines including those with suspected (CaSki) or known antigen processing defects (C33A), and with low HPV DNA copy number (SiHa). D4 was also able to cross react on a related peptide from HPV52 E7 but not HPV31 E7. Further analysis suggested that D4 cross reactivity against related peptides was influenced both by TCR contact residues and a certain threshold for peptide binding. The HPV cross-reactivity was confirmed at the whole protein level as D4 was also able to recognize the endogenously processed forms of HPV16 and 52 E7 but not 31 E7. These results suggest that HPV16 E7 11-20 would be a useful epitope for immunotherapy in both HPV 16 and 52 tumours. Despite this, it is difficult to generate these CTL in response to vaccination, emphasizing the need for definition of novel epitopes and more efficient vaccination strategies.Key words: HPV; CTL; cervical cancer; immunotherapy; cross-reactivity Cervical cancer (CaCx) is the second most common cause of cancer in women world wide and with premalignant cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN3) is associated with HPV infection. In developing countries where 80% of cases occur, this is the principal female cancer. 1 The DNA of HPVs, particularly 16 and 18, are found in Ͼ99% of CaCx patients. 2 It is the E6 and E7 proteins, which are consistently retained and expressed in cervical tumor cells, that give the virus its transforming properties. 3,4 HPVs are defined as low and high risk, high-risk types being associated with invasive cervical cancer, while low risk types are associated with warts. There are 11 HPV types that are consistently classified as high-risk types: 16,18,31,33,35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56 and 58. These types are further divided into classes: type A (16, 31, 33, 35, 52 and 58), C (18, 39 and 45) and D (51 and 56).HPV type-specific prevalence varies geographically. Worldwide, types 16 and 18 dominate but in other non-Caucasian populations, 31, 52 and 58 dominate. The infection rate with each HPV type varies from country to country, i.e., HPV16 is found in 43.9% of cases in the Philippines and 72.4% in Morocco. According to Mûnoz et al., 95% of all infections were caused by 8 types: 16, 18, 45, 31, 33, 52, 58 and 35. They suggest that vaccination against the 5 most common types could prevent 90% of cases of CaCx. 5 The geographi...

No abstract

No abstract