We report two measurements related to flash experiments. One is concerned with electroluminescence in yttria-stabilized zirconia; in this case we have measured the broadening of the (UV) absorption edge in single crystal cubic zirconia below the conduction band, suggesting the generation of energy levels that are consistent with the electroluminescent spectra. The second measurement relates to the universal nature of the power density at the early onset of the flash transition in Stage I, for several ceramics flashed under a wide range of electric fields and temperature, which may be related to nonlinear thermal vibrations, so that the Debye temperature would be a lower bound for the flash-onset.