The intravenous administration of drug-loaded nanoparticles (NPs) is needed to achieve passive or active targeting in disease tissues. However, when the loaded drug is a hydrophobic small molecule, the NPs fail to reach adequate plasma drug concentrations mainly because of premature drug release. The pharmacokinetics of such drugs can be controlled by covalent modification, but this approach could compromise the safety or potency of the drug. In this study, we investigated two formulation parameters that could be used to improve the plasma concentrations of unmodified drugs that are loaded in a nanoemulsion (NE), a core-shell type NP. The first parameter is the loading ratio, and the second is the affinity of the drug to the core. Optimized NEs with reduced drug loading and with a high drug-core affinity resulted in a 12.4- and 11.2-fold increase in the plasma retention of curcumin and paclitaxel, respectively. Our strategy for enhancing the drug-core interaction affinity relied on mixing oils and surfactants to achieve cooperativity in noncovalent interactions, such as hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonding, and π-π stacking, which was further confirmed by theoretical calculations of interaction affinities. Finally, we report on the development of a cinnamic acid-derived oil-like material as a novel drug vehicle with exceptional solubilizing ability that could be used in intravenous formulations of NEs.Manipulating the Li plating behavior remains a challenging task toward Li-based high-energy batteries. Generally, the Li plating process is kinetically controlled by ion transport, concentration gradient, local electric field, etc. A myriad of strategies have been developed for homogenizing the kinetics; however, such kinetics-controlled Li plating nature is barely changed. Herein, a ferroelectric substrate comprised of homogeneously distributed BaTiO3 was deployed and the Li plating behavior was transferred from a kinetic-controlled to a thermodynamic-preferred mode via ferroelectric effect. Such Li deposits with uniform hexagonal and cubic shapes are highly in accord with the thermodynamic principle where the body-centered cubic Li is apt to expose more (110) facets as possible to maximally minimize its surface energy. The mechanism was later confirmed due to the spontaneous polarization of BTO particles trigged by an applied electric field. The instantly generated reverse polarized field and charged ends not only neutralized the electric field but also leveled the ion distribution at the interface.N-doping of graphdiyne with atomic precision is very important for the study of heteroatom doping effect and the structure-properties relationships of graphdiyne. Here we report the bottom-up synthesis and characterizations of high-quality pyrazinoquinoxaline-based graphdiyne (PQ-GDY) film. First-principle studies of the layered structure were performed to examine the stacking mode, lithium binding affinity, and bulk lithium storage capacity. Three-stage insertion of 14 lithium atoms with binding affinities in the order of pyrazine nitrogen > diyne carbon > central aromatic ring were confirmed by both lithium-ion half-cell measurements and DFT calculations. More than half of the lithium atoms preferentially bind to pyrazine nitrogen, and a reversible capacity of 570.0 mA h g-1 at a current density of 200 mA g-1 after 800 cycles was achieved. Such a high capacity utilization rate of 97.2% provides a good case study of N-doped GDY with atomic precision.The increasing use of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) in many industries has generated significant research interest regarding their impact on the environment and human health. The major routes of ENPs to enter the human body are inhalation, skin contact, and ingestion. Following ingestion, ENPs have a long contact time in the human stomach. Hence, it is essential to know the fate of the ENPs under gastric conditions. This study aims to investigate the fate of the widely used nanoparticles Ag-NP, Au-NP, CeO2-NP, and ZnO-NP in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) under different conditions through the application of single-particle inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (SP-ICP-MS). The resulting analytical methods have size detection limits for Ag-NP, Au-NP, ZnO-NP, and CeO2-NP from 15 to 35 nm, and the particle concentration detection limit is 135 particles/mL. Metal ions corresponding to the ENPs of interest were detected simultaneously with detection limits from 0.02 to 0.1 μg/L. The results showed that ZnO-NPs dissolved completely and rapidly in SGF, whereas Au-NPs and CeO2-NPs showed apparent aggregation and did not dissolve significantly. Both aggregation and dissolution were observed in Ag-NP samples following exposure to SGF. The size distributions and concentrations of ENPs were affected by the original ENP concentration, ENP size, the contact time in SGF, and temperature. This work represents a significant advancement in the understanding of ENP characteristics under gastric conditions.Tussilago farfara is a traditional herbal medicine used to treat coughs, bronchitis, and asthma. SBE-β-CD mouse Its bioactive compounds include sesquiterpenoids with anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, neuroprotective, and other effects. Biochemical studies have highlighted the mechanisms of action, but the investigations of related molecular pathways have not specified direct molecular targets. Therefore, this study profiled cellular target proteins of a sesquiterpenoid isolated from T. farfara using quantitative chemical proteomics in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. Compound 8, 7β-(3'-ethyl-cis-crotonoyloxy)-1α-(2'-methyl butyryloxy)-3,14-dehydro-Z-notonipetranone, exhibited potent antiproliferative activity based on its α,β-unsaturated carbonyl moiety, and its potential cellular target proteins were identified using a compound 8-based clickable probe. Among >200 identified proteins, 17 showed enrichment ratios of >3 in both cell lines, while recombinant 14-3-3 protein zeta and peroxiredoxin-1 were verified using isothermic calorimetry and their alkylation sites. Considering the interaction between the α,β-unsaturated carbonyl moiety of compound 8 and cysteine residues of the proteins, peptides containing Cys25 and Cys94 of 14-3-3 protein zeta and Cys83 of peroxiredoxin-1 were significantly reduced by this sesquiterpene ester. Although the results did not elucidate the effects of compound 8 in breast cancer cells, identification of potential target proteins contributes to enhanced understanding of its antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory effects.