>>>>    <xsl:apply-templates select="
>>>>      //T [ position() != last() ]
>>>>          [ count( $b[.  >=  current() and
>>>>                      . &lt; current()/following-sibling::T[1]]) > 0]"/>

You don't need to use count() > 0 to check for existence... just do:

//T [ position() != last() ]
  [$b[.  >=  current() and . &lt; current()/following-sibling::T[1]]]



-- 
Andrew Welch
http://andrewjwelch.com
Kernow: http://kernowforsaxon.sf.net/