Personal cooling garments (PCGs) have gained increasing attention as a promising solution to alleviate heat stress and enhance thermal comfort in hot and humid conditions. However, limited attention has been paid to the influence of clothing design on cooling performance. This review highlights the influence of design factors and provides a quantitative comparison in cooling performance for different types of PCGs, including air cooling garments, evaporative cooling garments, phase-change cooling garments, and liquid cooling garments. A detailed discussion about the relationship between design factors and the cooling performance of each cooling technique is provided based on the available literature. Furthermore, potential improvements and challenges in PCG design are explored. This review aims to offer a comprehensive insight into the attributes of various PCGs and promote interdisciplinary collaboration for improving PCGs in both cooling efficiency and garment comfort, which is valuable for further research and innovation.

Healthcare professionals wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) during outbreaks often experience heat strain and discomfort, which can negatively impact their work performance and well-being. This study aimed to evaluate the physiological and psychological effects of a newly designed wearable cooling and dehumidifying system (WCDS) on healthcare workers wearing PPE via a 60 min treadmill walking test. Core temperature, mean skin temperature, heart rate, and subjective assessments of thermal sensation, wetness sensation, and thermal comfort were measured throughout the test. Additionally, ratings of wearing comfort and movement comfort were recorded during a wearing trial. The results showed that the WCDS significantly reduced core temperature, improved thermal sensation, and reduced wetness sensation compared to the non-cooling condition. The microclimatic temperature within the PPE was significantly lower in the cooling condition, indicating the WCDS’s ability to reduce heat buildup. The wearing trial results demonstrated general satisfaction with the wearability and comfort of the WCDS across various postures. These findings contribute to the development of enhanced PPE designs and the improvement in working conditions for healthcare professionals on the frontlines during outbreaks.

The mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced composites are highly dependent on the local fiber orientation. In this study, a low-cost yarn orientation reconstruction approach for the composite components’ surface was built, utilizing binocular structured light detection technology to accomplish the effective fiber orientation detection of composite surfaces. It enables the quick acquisition of samples of the revolving body shape without blind spots with an electric turntable. Four collecting operations may completely cover the sample surface, the trajectory recognition coverage rate reached 80%, and the manual verification of the yarn space deviation showed good agreement with the automated technique. The results demonstrated that the developed system based on the proposed method can achieve the automatic recognition of yarn paths of views with different angles, which mostly satisfied quality control criteria in actual manufacturing processes.