Casimir forces in a Plasma: Possible Connections to Yukawa Potentials
  We present theoretical and numerical results for the screened Casimir effect between perfect metal surfaces in a plasma. We show how the Casimir effect in an electron-positron plasma can provide an important contribution to nuclear interactions. Our results suggest that there is a connection between Casimir forces and nucleon forces mediated by mesons. Correct nuclear energies and meson masses appear to emerge naturally from the screened Casimir-Lifshitz effect. 
Barry W. Ninham, Mathias Bostr\"om, Clas Persson, Iver Brevik, Stefan   Y. Buhmann, and Bo E. Sernelius
quant-ph