Either an ESE-Quant Tube Scanner (ESE GmbH, Stockach, Germany) or a PE GeneAmpH Thermocycler 9600 (Applied Biosystems, Carlsbad, CA, USA ) was used as a quantitative reference instrument for temperature incubation. The ESE-Quant Tube Scanner also served as a reference for quantitative fluorescence measurement. A SpectraMax M2 fluorescence plate reader (Molecular Devices, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) was also used (as noted in individual experiments). Physitemp IT-23, T-type thermocouples (Clifton, NJ, USA) and an Omega DaqPRO 5300 Data Recorder (Omega Engineering, Stamford, CT, USA) were used to monitor temperature.