'Eu POT.3+' photoluminescence enhancement due to thermal energy transfer in 'Eu IND.2''O IND.3'-doped Si'O IND.2'-'B IND.2''O IND.3'-Pb'O IND.2' glasses system

In this work, Eu3+-doped lead borosilicate glasses (SiO2-B2O3-PbO2) synthesized by fusion method had their optical properties investigated as a function of temperature. Atomic Force Microscopy images obtained for a glass matrix annealed at 350 and 500 °C show a precipitated crystalline phase with sizes 11 and 21 nm, respectively. Besides, as the temperature increases from 350 to 300 K a strong Eu3+ photoluminescence (PL) enhancement takes place. This anomalous feature is attributed to the thermally activated carrier transfer process from nanocrystals and charged intrinsic defects states to Eu3+ energy levels. In addition, the PL peaks in this temperature range were assigned to the Eu3+ transitions 5D0→7F2, at 612 nm, 5D0→7F1, at 595 nm, and 5D0→7F0, at 585 nm. It was also observed that the 5D0→7F3 and 5D0→7F4 PL bands at 655 and 700 nm, respectively, show a continuous decrease in intensity as the temperature increases.CAPESMCT/CNPqFAPEMI

Is Wine a Good Choice for Investment?

We extend our understanding on the role of wine investment within a portfolio of different assets (US/UK equities, bonds, gold, and housing) by considering a rich methodology based, among others, on the mean-variance and stochastic-dominance approaches. The main findings suggest that wine is the best investment among all individual assets under study, and investors prefer to invest in with-wine portfolios than without-wine portfolios to gain higher expected utility when short selling is not allowed. However, investors are indifferent between portfolios with and without wine when short-selling is allowed. In addition, with-wine portfolios generally either dominate individual assets or investors are indifferent in choosing between individual assets. Interestingly, the with-wine portfolios first-order stochastically dominate housing in both the long-only and short-allowed strategies, pointing towards market inefficiency. Finally, we reveal that investors prefer the low-risk with-wine portfolios to the equal-weighted portfolios but are indifferent between the high-risk with-wine portfolios and the naïve portfolios for both long-only and short-allowed strategies. Our findings can be used by investors in their investment processes, and reveal the possibility of earning abnormal returns when wine is included in the investment.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/pacfin2019-10-01hj2019Economic