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The widespread dissemination of the COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a transition from traditional, in-person pedagogy to online methods within higher vocational education. The inherent limitations of online learning have become progressively conspicuous. Given its pivotal role amidst the pandemic, numerous institutions have endeavored to integrate technology with traditional classroom pedagogies. Consequently, blended learning has emerged as a focal point within vocational education, garnering notable attention and interest. The question arises: which learning method proves most effective for vocational skills development? This study endeavored to ascertain the comparative effectiveness of various learning methods for vocational skills training. Specifically, employing a quantitative approach, the study conducted a comprehensive questionnaire survey of graduates of higher vocational institutions in China. Participants have undergone training via exclusively physical, thoroughly online, and blended learning formats, respectively. The objective was to evaluate the efficacy of these three methods as perceived by higher vocational graduates. In addition, the study aimed to analyze the personal and pedagogical factors that influence the effectiveness of these learning methods. The collected data underwent analysis utilizing SPSS software. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests, correlation analyses, and subsequent least significant difference (LSD) post-hoc analyses were employed to investigate the correlations between demographic variables and factors related to teachers and educational resources across the three learning methods. These findings indicate that blended learning is the most efficient approach, with a notable preference among vocational graduates. Physical learning demonstrated superior effectiveness, particularly in functional skills training. In divergence, online learning ranked the lowest among graduates' preference, efficiency, and efficacy in functional skills training. Among the demographic factors examined, gender and duration of graduation exhibited notable variances across the effectiveness of different learning methods. However, there are no significant differences in the area of origin, economic region, type of higher vocational institution, and majors. These insights provide valuable guidance for higher vocational institutions in selecting the most suitable learning methods for enhancing functional skills training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial distribution, composition and possible source of 10 parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in littoral surface sediments from the Yellow Sea were investigated. The total PAHs concentrations varied from 12.4 to 8294.0 μg/kg dry weights, and the sites with the highest levels were all located in Dalian Bay. At most sampling sites, PAH components with moderate and high molecular weights were dominant, while percentage of low molecular weight species was higher at a few sites close to several harbor cities. The specific ratios of paired PAH isomeric compounds for source apportionment suggested that various pyrolytic procedures were the major origin in the Yellow Sea, whereas petrogenic cause only occurred at a small number of the monitoring sites. The averaged effect rang low (ERL) quotient for the studied PAH components was generally below the threshold value of 1.0 in most sea areas, indicated that the potential ecological risks of PAHs contamination in surface sediments were normally not high in the Yellow Sea, however, the situation in Dalian Bay should be cautioned due to the high mean ERL quotient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic variants of three human organic cation transporter genes (hOCTs) were extensively explored in a Korean population. The functional changes of hOCT2 variants were evaluated in vitro, and those genetic polymorphisms of hOCTs were compared among different ethnic populations. From direct DNA sequencing, 7 of 13 coding variants were nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including four variants from hOCT1 (F160L, P283L, P341L, and M408V) and three from hOCT2 (T199I, T201M, and A270S), whereas 6 were synonymous SNPs. The linkage disequilibrium analysis presented for three independent LD blocks for each hOCT gene showed no significant linkage among all three hOCT genes. The transporter activities of MDCK cells that overexpress the hOCT2-T199I, -T201M, and -A270S variants showed significantly decreased uptake of [(3)H]methyl-4-phenylpyridinium acetate (MPP(+)) or [(14)C]tetraethylammonium compared with those cells that overexpress wild-type hOCT2, and the estimated kinetic parameters of these variants for [(3)H]MPP(+) uptake in oocytes showed a 2- to 5-fold increase in K(m) values and a 10- to 20-fold decrease in V(max) values. The allele frequencies of the five functional variants hOCT1-P283L, -P341L, and hOCT2-T199I, -T201M, and -A270S were 1.3, 17, 0.7, 0.7, and 11%, respectively, in a Korean population; the frequency distributions of these variants were not significantly different from those of Chinese and Vietnamese populations. These findings suggest that genetic variants of hOCTs are not linked among three genes in a Korean population, and several of the hOCT genetic variants cause decreased transport activity in vitro compared with the wild type, although the clinical relevance of these variants remains to be evaluated.