DAVID W. ELLIS AND ANNE-LISE CHRISTENSEN 1 A BRIEF OVERVIEW In the past, most people who sustained catastrophic brain injury died. However, over the past several decades, sophisticated medical diagnostic techniques such as computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), along with advances in emergency trauma procedures and neurosurgical pro cedures (e. g., intracranial pressure monitoring), have dramatically increased the survival rates for people who have survived such trauma. At the same time, because of population growth, the number of victims of brain trauma (primarily automobile accidents) has also risen 1]. As a result of their injuries, many of these people have developed severe disabilities that affect their lives and the lives of everyone around them. For those who survive, and their families, mere survival is not enough. Attention must be paid to the quality of their lives after the traumatic event. During the past 15 years, there has been an increasing focus on the develop ment of treatment techniques for brain injuries. Although the principal focus of this text is on the neuropsychological (i. e., neurological and psychological) aspects of treatment-both theory and technique-the book is also directed towards the broad variety of issues that affect survivors, their families, health care professionals, and the social milieu."

Teachers, both in and beyond teacher education programmes, are continual learners. As society itself evolves, new settings and the challenges they provide require new learning. Teachers must continually adapt to new developments that affect their work, including alterations to qualification systems, new relationships with welfare professionals, and new technologies which are reconfiguring relationships with pupils.

Cultural-Historical Perspectives on Teacher Education and Development is an international volume which clarifies the purpose of initial (pre-service) teacher education and continuing professional development, and the role of universities and higher education personnel in these processes. An edited collection of chapters by leading researchers from the UK, the US and Europe, it gains coherence from its theoretical orientation and substantive focus on teacher learning. This book:

• demonstrates the contribution of sociocultural and cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) towards our understandings of teacher learning
• offers a strong exemplification of a research focus on teachers as learners in specific sociocultural settings
• shows what teachers learn, how they learn and where they learn, using specific research examples, in the context of broader interests in the development of professional practice and professional education.

As the only volume now available that applies CHAT principles to teacher education and learning, Cultural-Historical Perspectives on Teacher Education and Development will be highly useful for teachers and teacher educators undertaking postgraduate and doctoral studies, particularly in the area of professional learning and development. It will also be of relevance to the continuing development of teachers and other school-based professionals.

DAVID W. ELLIS AND ANNE-LISE CHRISTENSEN 1 A BRIEF OVERVIEW In the past, most people who sustained catastrophic brain injury died. However, over the past several decades, sophisticated medical diagnostic techniques such as computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), along with advances in emergency trauma procedures and neurosurgical pro cedures (e. g., intracranial pressure monitoring), have dramatically increased the survival rates for people who have survived such trauma. At the same time, because of population growth, the number of victims of brain trauma (primarily automobile accidents) has also risen 1]. As a result of their injuries, many of these people have developed severe disabilities that affect their lives and the lives of everyone around them. For those who survive, and their families, mere survival is not enough. Attention must be paid to the quality of their lives after the traumatic event. During the past 15 years, there has been an increasing focus on the develop ment of treatment techniques for brain injuries. Although the principal focus of this text is on the neuropsychological (i. e., neurological and psychological) aspects of treatment-both theory and technique-the book is also directed towards the broad variety of issues that affect survivors, their families, health care professionals, and the social milieu."

Teachers, both in and beyond teacher education programmes, are continual learners. As society itself evolves, new settings and the challenges they provide require new learning. Teachers must continually adapt to new developments that affect their work, including alterations to qualification systems, new relationships with welfare professionals, and new technologies which are reconfiguring relationships with pupils.

Cultural-Historical Perspectives on Teacher Education and Development is an international volume which clarifies the purpose of initial (pre-service) teacher education and continuing professional development, and the role of universities and higher education personnel in these processes. An edited collection of chapters by leading researchers from the UK, the US and Europe, it gains coherence from its theoretical orientation and substantive focus on teacher learning. This book:

• demonstrates the contribution of sociocultural and cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) towards our understandings of teacher learning
• offers a strong exemplification of a research focus on teachers as learners in specific sociocultural settings
• shows what teachers learn, how they learn and where they learn, using specific research examples, in the context of broader interests in the development of professional practice and professional education.

As the only volume now available that applies CHAT principles to teacher education and learning, Cultural-Historical Perspectives on Teacher Education and Development will be highly useful for teachers and teacher educators undertaking postgraduate and doctoral studies, particularly in the area of professional learning and development. It will also be of relevance to the continuing development of teachers and other school-based professionals.

M.A.Bramer University of Portsmouth, UK This volume comprises the refereed application papers presented at AI-2003, the Twenty-third SGAI International Conference on Innovative Techniques and Applications of Artificial Intelligence, held in Cambridge in December 2003. The conference was organised by SGAI, the British Computer Society Specialist Group on Artificial Intelligence. The papers present new and innovative developments in the field, divided into sections on Personalisation, E-Commerce and Resource Management, Hazard Prediction, Fault Diagnosis and Design, Medical and Social Services and Image Recognition, Knowledge Bases and Attribute Selection. This year's prize for the best refereed application paper, which was sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry, was won by a paper entitled Design-a-Trial: A Rule-Based Decision Support System for Clinical Trial Design, which has no fewer than nine authors: K Nammuni, C Pickering (lnferMed Ltd), S Modgil (University College, London), A Montgomery (lnferMed Ltd), P Hammond (University College, London), IC Wyatt (National Institute for Clinical Excellence), DG Altman (Centre for Statistics in Medicine), R Dunlop (lnferMed Ltd) and H Potts (Kings College, London). This is the eleventh volume in the Applications and Innovations series. The Technical Stream papers are published as a companion volume under the title Research and Development in Intelligent Systems XX. On behalf of the conference organising committee I should like to thank all those who contributed to the organisation of this year's application programme, in particular the programme committee members, the referees and our administrators Fiona Hartree and Linsay Turbert.

Sarah Steele needs a vacation from her high-profile job as an ADA, so she goes with her best friend on a trip they've always dreamed of to Rio De Janeiro. The vacation is off to a great start; surfing, swimming, reading, and dancing, but then their little piece of heaven takes a hellish turn. Sarah witnesses The Blondes, a mysterious group of female criminals who specialize in micro-kidnapping, capture a State Representative's wife. It was supposed to be simple, the police say the victims are always released within a few hours. But when the woman's found dead in a dumpster, Sarah swears The Blondes will receive justice. And she'll be the one to give it. But as things get more twisted than she ever imagined, does she have what it takes to bring them down?

This volume uses the minimum of jargon and a wide range of exercises to relate theory to practical experience. It covers key topics including - perception, attitudes, listening, non-verbal behaviour and communication in groups and organizations. This edition includes material on transactional analysis and recent developments in electronic communication. It is suitable for students taking communication studies courses and courses with a communication/behavioural sciences element.