Chiral Perturbation Approach to the pp -> pp pi0 Reaction Near Threshold

The usual theoretical treatments of the near-threshold $pp \rightarrow pp\pi^0$ reaction are based on various phenomenological Lagrangians. In this work we examine the relationship between these approaches and a systematic chiral perturbation method. Our chiral perturbation calculation indicates that the pion rescattering term should be significantly enhanced as compared with the traditional phenomenological treatment, and that this term should have substantial energy and momentum dependence. An important consequence of this energy-momentum dependence is that, for a representative threshold kinematics and within the framework of our semiquantitative calculation, the rescattering term interferes destructively with the Born-term in sharp contrast to the constructive interference obtained in the conventional treatment. This destructive interference makes theoretical cross sections for $pp \rightarrow pp\pi^0$ much smaller than the experimental values, a feature that suggests the importance of the heavy-meson exchange contributions to explain the experimental data.Comment: 35 pages (REVTeX), 5 figures as 1 PostScript file acknowledgement changed, reference added, Phys.Rev.C (in print

An environmentally benign antimicrobial nanoparticle based on a silver-infused lignin core

Silver nanoparticles have antibacterial properties, but their use has been a cause for concern because they persist in the environment. Here, we show that lignin nanoparticles infused with silver ions and coated with a cationic polyelectrolyte layer form a biodegradable and green alternative to silver nanoparticles. The polyelectrolyte layer promotes the adhesion of the particles to bacterial cell membranes and, together with silver ions, can kill a broad spectrum of bacteria, including Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and quaternary-amine-resistant Ralstonia sp. Ion depletion studies have shown that the bioactivity of these nanoparticles is time-limited because of the desorption of silver ions. High-throughput bioactivity screening did not reveal increased toxicity of the particles when compared to an equivalent mass of metallic silver nanoparticles or silver nitrate solution. Our results demonstrate that the application of green chemistry principles may allow the synthesis of nanoparticles with biodegradable cores that have higher antimicrobial activity and smaller environmental impact than metallic silver nanoparticles