for(var i = document.select_form.topics.options.length; i >= 0; i--) {
    document.select_form.topics.options[i] = null;
}
for(var i = document.select_form.thelinks.options.length; i >= 0; i--) {
    document.select_form.thelinks.options[i] = null;
}

var myTopics = new Object();

var itemCount = 0;