Development of the reading literacy questionnaire for EFL learners at primary schools.

Previous studies have indicated that there are a variety of factors influencing reading literacy assessment, including linguistic, cognitive, and affective factors, but little has been done on how to integrate these influential factors reasonably in a reading literacy instrument. As such, the purpose of this study is to develop and validate an English Reading Literacy Questionnaire (ERLQ) for English as foreign language (EFL) learners at the elementary level. The ERLQ was designed and revised through three rounds of validation with a sample of 784 pupils (Grades 3-6) in six primary schools from six provinces in China. Validity and reliability tests of the questionnaire were conducted with item analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), reliability test, and the analysis of criterion validity in SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 23.0. Results indicated that the revised ERLQ had high internal consistency, ranging from 0.729 to 0.823. The criterion validity of the ERLQ was supported by significant correlations to the Chinese Students' English Rating Scale verified by the authoritative department, with a correlation coefficient of 0.871. The study shows that the revised questionnaire, with 3 dimensions of 14 items, has high reliability and validity, which can be used as an assessment instrument for the intended audience. It also suggests that modifications may be made for further use in other regions and countries, depending on the background information of the learners.

Chemical Gas Telemetry System Based on Multispectral Infrared Imaging.

Environmental monitoring, public safety, safe production, and other areas all benefit greatly from the use of gas detection technologies. The infrared image of a gas could be used to determine its type from a long distance in gas detection. The infrared image can show the spatial distribution of the gas cloud and the background, allowing for long-distance and non-contact detection during safety production and hazardous chemical accident rescue. In this study, a gas detection system based on multispectral infrared imaging is devised, which can detect a variety of gases and determine the types of gas by separating the infrared radiation. It is made up of an imaging optical system, an uncooled focal plane detector, a filter controller, and a data gathering and processing system. The resolution of the infrared image is 640 × 512 and the working band of the system is 6.5~15 µm. The system can detect traces of pollutants in ambient air or gas clouds at higher concentrations. Ammonia, sulfur hexafluoride, methane, sulfur dioxide, and dimethyl methyl phosphonate were all successfully detected in real time. Ammonia clouds could be detected at a distance of 1124.5 m.

Drift-eliminating method of intensity demodulation on a chirped fiber grating strain sensor.

It is quite possible to detect the strain of a sample based on a chirped fiber grating (CFG) sensor, which has a wider bandwidth of light signal than a fiber Bragg grating. Usually, environmental factors play negative roles in the process of intensity demodulation. A drift-eliminating method of CFG intensity demodulation has been created and tested in our lab. Three CFG sensors were involved in this research. Two of them with close wavelength bands connected in series were used as a strain sensing unit; the third one was used as a referencing grating working within the reflective wavelength spectrum of the other two. It is shown that the signal ratio of the sensing unit and the referencing grating is a linear function of the loading strain. The linearity is as high as 99.79%.