Digital caliper

After each nest was opened in the laboratory, two proxies of nest architecture were measured with a digital caliper (Mitutoyo digital caliper, 0.01 mm precision): (i) tunnel length, representing the maximum length of the nest and (ii) tunnel diameter, represented by the average of three measurements, one on each edge and one in the middle of the nest. Furthermore, wood density for each host was used as a proxy for hardness and hence boring difficulty. Wood density was estimated from ten random nests for each host species, using the method described by Niemeyer (2013 ).

Antimicrobial activity was evaluated based on disk inhibition tests as fully described by Otoni et al. [18 (link)]. Briefly. The disk inhibition test was performed as follows: colonies isolated from the cultures of E. coli (ATCC 25922) and S. aureus (ATCC 25923) were inoculated into 0.85% (w/v) NaCl solution until 0.5 McFarland standard turbidity matched (108 CFU mL⁻¹). The suspensions were spread out over solidified Mueller Hinton agar. Discs with diameters of 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, and 0.8 cm were exposed to UV light (110 V and 254 nm) for 2 min on each side before being placed in contact with the bacterial surface, and the plates were incubated at 37 °C for 24 h in the appropriate incubation chamber. The inhibition zones (diameters around the films) were measured to the nearest 0.01 mm with a digital caliper (Mitutoyo Corp., Kanagawa, Japan). The inefficiency in inhibiting microbial growth was considered when inhibition zones were not detected, and the area was assigned as zero.

The patients were evaluated postoperatively for pain, swelling, and trismus by the surgeon. Pain was assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), which is a straight line with the digits from 0 on one end to 10 on the other end. On this 10-cm straight line, 0 represents no pain and 10 represents unbearable pain. After the operation the patients were asked to assess the intensity of pain and mark on the scale on the forms provided at the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, and 6^th postoperative hours and on postoperative days 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7. With these forms, the intensity of pain experienced by patients within one-week until the removal of sutures was evaluated.¹⁹
For the assessment of postoperative swelling, the distances between certain anatomical points on the face were measured with a flexible ruler before the surgery on postoperative days 2 and 7. For this purpose, the distances between three different points (tragus-oral commissure, tragus-soft tissue pogonion) were measured and recorded. The arithmetical mean of these distances was recorded as the facial distance (in millimeters).^{13 (link)
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Trismus was evaluated by measuring the maximal inter-incisal distance both before the surgery (Day 0) and on the postoperative Days 2 and 7 using a digital caliper (Mitutoyo Corp., Japan) and the outcomes were recorded as the mouth opening (in millimeters).

Shear viscosity was determined using a capillary rheometer (Instron Model 3213, Norwood, MA, USA) at 190 °C connected to a Instron 5500R-1137 universal testing machine (5 kN load cell) and operating at cross head speeds of 0.6, 2, 6, 20, 60, and 100 mm/min. The barrel diameter was 9.5504 mm and two capillary dies were used (lengths of 14 mm and 27 mm with diameter of 1.4 mm Ø) to determine the effect of shear rate on the viscosity of polyolefin and composite samples. Bagley correction was also used since the L/D ratio was <200, in order to correct the influence of pressure drop on measurements. Loaded samples (7 g) were thermally equilibrated for approximately 10 min with a heating temperature variance of ±0.2 °C. Each sample was run in triplicate and data was analyzed using Bluehill v3 Instron software in conformation to the ASTM D3835-02 standard. Extrudate swell diameters were measured using a digital caliper (Mitutoyo).