function e(id) {
    return document.getElementById(id);
}

/* AJAX */

var portletReq;

function asynchGet(updateURL){
    if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {
        portletReq = new XMLHttpRequest();
    } else if (window.ActiveXObject) {
        portletReq = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
    }
    portletReq.onreadystatechange = processReqChange;
    portletReq.open("GET", updateURL, true);
    portletReq.send(null);
}

function processReqChange() {
    if (portletReq.readyState == 4) {
        if (portletReq.status == 200) {
            // process response
            populateSelect();
        }
    }
}

/* end AJAX */

try { // Fix for IE background image flicker
  document.execCommand('BackgroundImageCache', false, true);
} catch(e) {}