Simultaneous Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurement and Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) measurement at the same position were performed to clarify the relationship between spatial structure and mass transfer in the drag reducing surfactant flow. In the drag reducing flow, mass flux is largely suppressed in the near-wall region with increasing drag reduction rate. To discuss the relationship between coherent motion and drag reduction more detail, weighted probability density function was also calculated. As a result of simultaneous measurement, diffusion of wall-normal direction is largely suppressed and this indicated that turbulent coherent structure changes and sweep and ejection which produce the skin frictional drag are suppressed.

It is considered that the surface structure of human skin changes with age, affecting the appearance of skin. However, the effect of skin structure on its appearance has not yet been clarified. In this study, we measured the geometric structure of the skin of eight women in the age group of 21 to 45 years using the latest confocal scanning laser microscope, and clarified the change in skin structure with age. In addition, based on the geometric data of the skin structure, we numerically investigated the optical characteristics of the skin surface by using a numerical model developed by us. Numerical results reveal that the optical characteristics of skin surface do not depend on the age-induced change in the skin structure very much.

Textiles maintain wearer comfort by allowing evaporated sweat to permeate through, providing thermal management and keeping skin dry. Each textile layer presents a resistance to mass transport consistent with its physical structure (i.e., thickness, porosity, and tortuosity). However, when textiles are layered, water vapor transport becomes more complex because diffusing molecules must traverse interstitial spaces between layers. Interstitial mass transport resistances of significant magnitude can reduce rates of water vapor transport through layered textile stacks. The prevailing textile mass transport resistance interrogation method is ASTM F1868: “Standard Test Method for Thermal and Evaporative Resistance of Clothing Materials Using a Sweating Hot Plate.” A self-calibrating element of this method is to measure one, two, three, and four fabric layers. Each newly added layer is prescribed to increase the stack mass transport resistance by the integer resistance presented by a single layer with no interstitial resistance consideration. Four improvements to ASTM F1868 are recommended: 1) gravimetric mass transport measurement, 2) a Stefan flow model, 3) correct accounting for apparatus mass transport resistances, and 4) recognizing and measuring interstitial mass transport resistances. These improvements were implemented and evaluated by running tests using Southern Mills Defender™ 750 fabric, the calibration standard used for ASTM F1868, on a new gravimetric experimental apparatus. The mass transport resistance of one fabric layer measured via the gravimetric method is related to the ASTM F1868 value through working fluid properties. Using the gravimetric approach, mass transport resistance for a single layer of calibration fabric was measured at 60.3 ± 14.4 s/m, which is consistent with the prescribed result from ASTM F1868 (after the conversion factor), 73.1 ± 7.3 s/m. The diffusion coefficient for water vapor in air in the fabric pores measured by gravimetric experiment, (2.02 ± 0.59) × 10 −5 m 2 /s, agrees (within experimental uncertainty) with the theoretical value for the experimental conditions, 2.54 × 10 −5 m 2 /s. However, for stacks of two or more calibration fabric layers, the gravimetric approach does not agree with the prescribed ASTM F1868 result due to interstitial mass transport resistance between fabric layers. The measured interstitial resistance value is 23.6 s/m, 39.1% of a single fabric layer, a value too significant to be ignored in engineering analysis.

Various non-invasive glucose monitoring methods using near-infrared spectroscopy have been investigated although no method has been successful so far. Our previous study has proposed a new promising method utilizing numerically generated absorbance spectra instead of the experimentally acquired absorbance spectra. The method suggests that the correct estimation of the optical properties is very important for numerically generating the absorbance spectra. The purpose of this study is to measure the change in the optical properties of the skin with the change in the blood glucose level in vivo. By measuring the reflectances of light incident on the skin surface at two distances from the incident point, the optical properties of the skin can be estimated. The estimation is a kind of the inverse problem based on the simulation of light propagation in the skin. Phantom experiments have verified the method and in vivo experiments are to be performed.

In order to predict the skin colors, we need to analyze the reflection spectra of the skins. For the diffuse reflection, it is essential to know the skin optical properties that describe the propagation of light in the skin. We measure the absorption coefficient μ a , scattering coefficient μ s , scattering phase function p(θ) and refractive index n of human skins in this study. We attempt to build a measurement system which can accurately measure the optical properties of the skin samples with a size of as small as 5 mm and a thickness of as thin as 50 micrometer in the visible wavelength range with the wavelength step of 50 nm. Then we measured the optical properties of stratum corneum obtained from a cultured model of human epidermis and those of epidermis obtained from human skin. The effect of the exposure of epidermis to sunlight on the optical properties is discussed.