The use of ceramics in biological environments and biomedical applications is of increasing importance, as is the understanding of how biology works with minerals to develop strong materials. These proceedings contain papers that discuss the interface between biology and materials, presented at the Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites, January 22-27, 2006, Cocoa Beach, Florida. Organized and sponsored by The American Ceramic Society and The American Ceramic Society's Engineering Ceramics Division in conjunction with the Nuclear and Environmental Technology Division.

Preface.Introduction.In Vitro Evaluation.Initial In Vitro Interaction of Human Osteoblasts withNanostructured Hydroxyapatite (NHA) (Xingyuan Guo, Julie Gough,Ping Xiao, Jing Liu, and Zhijian Shen).Osteoblast Response to Zinc-Doped Sintered p-TricalciumPhosphate (Sahil Jalota, Sarit 8. Bhaduri, and A. Cuneyt Tas).Determination of the Spatial Resolution of Micro-Focus X-Ray CTSystem with a Standard Specimen (Mineo Mizuno, Yasutoshi Mizuta,Takeharu). Kato, and Yasushi lkedaProcessing of Biomaterials.Hydroxyapatite Hybridized with Metal Oxides for BiomedicalApplications (Akiyoshi Osaka, Eiji Fujii, Koji Kawabata,Hideyuki Yoshirnatsu, Satoshi Hayakawa, Kanji Tsuru, ChristianBonhornrne, and Florence Babonneau).Preparation of Self-setting Cement-Based Micro- and MacroporousGranules of Carbonated Apatitic Calcium Phosphate (A. CuneytTas).A Self-setting, Monetite (CaHPO,) Cement for Skeletal Repair(Tarang R. Desai, Sarit B. Bhaduri, and A. Cuneyt Tas).Chemically Bonded Ceramics Based on Ca-Aluminates asBiomaterials (L. Herrnansson and H. Engqvist).A Theoretical and Mathematical Basis Towards DispersingNanoparticles and Biological Agents in a Non Polar Solvent forFabricating Porous Materials (Navin J. Manjooran and Gary R.Pickrell).Preparation of Hydroxyapatite and Calcium Phosphate BioceramicMaterials from the Aqueous Solution at Room Temperature (Jia-HuiLiao, Yu-Chen Chang, and Tzer-Shin Sheu).Hydroxyapatite Coatings Produced by Plasma Spraying of OrganicBased Solution Precursor (E. Garcia, Z. B. Zhang, T. W. Coyle, L.Gan, and R. Pilliar).Visible-Light Photocatalytic Fibers for Inactivation ofPseudomonas Aeruginosa (P. G. Wu, R. C. Xie, J. Irnlay, and J. K.Shang).Precipitation Mechanisms of Hydroxyapatite Powder in theDifferent Aqueous Solutions (Yu-Chen Chang and Tzer-Shin Sheu).Conversion of Bioactive Silicate (45S5), Borate, andBorosilicate Glasses to Hydroxyapatite in Dilute Phosphate Solution(Wenhai Huang, Moharned N. Raharnan, and Delbert E. Day).Dental Ceramics.Variable Frequency Microwave (VFM) Processing: A New Tool toCrystallize Lithium Disilicate Glass (Morsi Mahmoud, Diane Folz,Carlos Suchicital, David Clark, and Zak Fathi).Author Index.