Abstract: In this specification, online communities also referred to as forums, are used as a customer support tool. Users of the forum post questions and replies. In some embodiments users can vote on the replies. The authorized personnel can add an entry in a database based on the forum content. In an embodiment, such an entry could be in customer case management system when a question is not well answered or not answered at all and needs attention of customer support agent. In another embodiment, the entry could be in a knowledge base management system when a question is well answered and is considered to be potentially useful for many forum users. Any of the above embodiments can be used independently or together with any combination of other embodiments.

Abstract: Online communities, also referred to as “forums,” are used as a customer support tool along with a repository of useful articles, also referred to as “knowledge base.” Users may navigate between the forum and the knowledge base. Social networks can also be used to access the forum and knowledge base. Forums and knowledge bases that have confidential data may be restricted to employees of a multi-tenant database system. Any of the above embodiments can be used independently or together with any combination of other embodiments.

Abstract: A method and system is provided having a webpage for posting ideas integrated with on-demand customer relationship management. The website associated with the page may be stored in a tenant area of a multitenant database to facilitate maintaining multiple websites for different tenants. A webpage may be sent to a client that includes a plurality of sections, each including at least one idea related to an improvement of a product. Votes may be received for at least one of the plurality of sections. A determination may be made of a Total Qualitative Management Criterion (TQMC) for each section of the website, by applying an increasing function of time to newer votes to enable relative weightings of older votes to diminish over time without requiring computing a decaying time function to determine weightings for each vote. A product modification may be determined based on the TQMC for each section.

Abstract: A site is maintained that allows consumers to suggest, comment on and/or vote on ideas about a product or service. Some site embodiments can enable sponsoring organizations (customers) to maintain their own sites for displaying articles and allowing multiple viewers to vote on these articles. Site information for multiple tenants may be maintained in a common multi-tenant system. Votes may indicate a variety of different types of criteria, such as the importance, correctness, and/or user preference for the articles or other Qualitative Management Criteria (QMC) for determining the merit of an idea or an article. The votes may be tallied into an overall Total Qualitative Management Criterion (TQMC) for the idea or article. Newer votes may be adjusted according to an increasing function of time to enable the relative weightings of the older votes to diminish over time without having to compute a decaying time function to determine weightings for each vote.

Abstract: A method for automatically reconfiguring a webpage is provided. The web page may include a plurality of sections, and each section may include at least one aspect related to a particular topic, such as customer support and an option for casting a vote for a topic posted. A vote may be received vote for at least one of the plurality of sections. A Total Qualitative Management Criterion (TQMC) may be determined for each section of the website. An increasing function of time may be applied to newer votes to enable relative weightings of older votes to diminish over time without requiring computing a decaying time function to determine weightings for each vote. The webpage may be reconfigured based on ranking the sections according to the TQMC for each section.

Abstract: A method and system is provided having a webpage for posting ideas integrated with on-demand customer relationship management. The website associated with the page may be stored in a tenant area of a multitenant database to facilitate maintaining multiple websites for different tenants. A webpage may be sent to a client that includes a plurality of sections, each including at least one idea related to an improvement of a product. Votes may be received for at least one of the plurality of sections. A determination may be made of a Total Qualitative Management Criterion (TQMC) for each section of the website, by applying an increasing function of time to newer votes to enable relative weightings of older votes to diminish over time without requiring computing a decaying time function to determine weightings for each vote. A product modification may be determined based on the TQMC for each section.

Abstract: In an embodiment, communities are generated on demand. In this specification a community is a group of webpages in which users share ideas with one another by posting ideas and sending messages for one another to read. An on-demand community is a community that may be created via tools specialized for creating communities, with just a few keys strokes and/or mouse clicks and by adding information (e.g., about the members and/or the topic or set of topics that the community is focused upon), such that a community maybe established within a short amount of time, such as a few minutes or a few hours. Optionally, the communities may be initially populated with ideas related to a particular topic or set of topics. Optionally, each member may be provided with tools for establishing one or more profile page and/or one or more friend pages.

Abstract: A method for automatically reconfiguring a webpage is provided. The web page may include a plurality of sections, and each section may include at least one aspect related to a particular topic, such as customer support and an option for casting a vote for a topic posted. A vote may be received vote for at least one of the plurality of sections. A Total Qualitative Management Criterion (TQMC) may be determined for each section of the website. An increasing function of time may be applied to newer votes to enable relative weightings of older votes to diminish over time without requiring computing a decaying time function to determine weightings for each vote. The webpage may be reconfigured based on ranking the sections according to the TQMC for each section.

Abstract: A site is maintained that allows consumers to suggest, comment on and/or vote on ideas about a product or service. Some site embodiments can enable sponsoring organizations (customers) to maintain their own sites for displaying articles and allowing multiple viewers to vote on these articles. Site information for multiple tenants may be maintained in a common multi-tenant system. Votes may indicate a variety of different types of criteria, such as the importance, correctness, and/or user preference for the articles or other Qualitative Management Criteria (QMC) for determining the merit of an idea or an article. The votes may be tallied into an overall Total Qualitative Management Criterion (TQMC) for the idea or article. Newer votes may be adjusted according to an increasing function of time to enable the relative weightings of the older votes to diminish over time without having to compute a decaying time function to determine weightings for each vote.

Abstract: An apparatus for determining the attitude of an artificial satellite by narrowing attitude candidates to a correct one in a short time. The apparatus has star sensors, a star catalog data base, star identification sections in each of which star images output from the star sensors are collated with a star catalog with respect to each star sensor to output a group of corresponding candidates, attitude computation sections for computing a value of an attitude candidate of the artificial satellite with respect to each corresponding candidate, an attitude updating section for updating the value of the attitude candidate on the basis of the star images output from the star sensor and the star catalog, and an attitude propagation section for computing the value of the attitude candidate at the present sampling time from the value of the attitude candidate at the preceding sampling time and the artificial satellite's angular velocity.

Abstract: An agent for preventing and curing the hindrance of ischemic reperfusiton is disclosed which has as an active component thereof a chromanol glycoside represented by the following general formula: [wherein R1, R2, R3, and R4 independently denote a hydrogen atom or a lower alkyl group, R5 denotes a hydrogen atom, a lower alkyl group, or a lower acyl group, X denotes a monosaccharide residue or an oligosaccharide residue which may have a lower alkyl group or a lower acyl group substituted for the hydrogen atom of the hydroxyl group of the saccharide residue, n denotes an integer of 0-6, and m denotes an integer of 1-6]. The agent, even in a small dosage, acts safely and effectively on the affected part and allows the hindrances of ischemic reperfusion induced in heart, stomach, small intestine, liver, spleen, kidney, brain, and skin, and the hindrance induced during the transplantation of an internal organ to be prevented and cured.

Abstract: An agent for preventing and curing the hindrance of ischemic reperfusiton is disclosed which has as an active component thereof a chromanol glycoside represented by the following general formula: 1

Abstract: An apparatus for determining the attitude of an artificial satellite arranged to narrow attitude candidates down to a correct one in a short time. The apparatus has star sensors, star catalog data bases, star identification sections in each of which star images output from the star sensors are collated with a star catalog with respect to each star sensor to output a group of corresponding candidates, attitude computation sections for computing a value of an attitude candidate of the artificial satellite with respect to each corresponding candidate, an attitude updating section for updating the value of the attitude candidate on the basis of the star images output from the star sensor and the star catalog, and an attitude propagation section for computing the value of the attitude candidate at the present sampling time from the value of the attitude candidate at the preceding sampling time and the artificial satellite body angular velocity.

Abstract: A preventive and curative agent for inflammatory bowel diseases is disclosed which has as an active ingredient thereof a chromanol glucoside represented by the following general formula (1) (wherein R1, R2, R3, and R4 represent identically or differently either a hydrogen atom or a lower alkyl group, R5 represents a hydrogen atom, a lower alkyl group, or a lower acyl group, X represents a monosaccharide residue or an oligosaccharide residue having the hydrogen atom in the hydroxyl group thereof optionally substituted with a lower alkyl group or a lower acyl group, n represents an integer of 0-6, and m represents an integer of 1-6). Owing to the use, as an active ingredient, of the chromanol glucoside excelling in water solubility and possessing an oxidization resisting action and a free radical resisting action, the agent can conspicuously repress the lesion of an inflammatory bowel disease and prominently ameriolate the condition of disease.

Abstract: Polyacrylamide in the form of aquagel is partially hydrolyzed in such a manner that small pieces of the aquagel are mixed with an alkali agent in a specified quantity and maintained at a temperature of 50.degree. to 95.degree. C. until the hydrolysis reaches substantial completion. The quantity of the alkali agent is that corresponding to 1/1.1 to 1/3 of the hydrolysis percentage desired of the final partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide. The partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide thus produced is characterized by uniform hydrolysis evidenced by its improved solubility in water and a pH around 7 of its aqueous solution. The term "aquagel" is herein used interchangeably with a term "hydrogel".

Abstract: When an alkaline substance is added to and mixed with aggregates of the mutually adhering blobs of a hydrogel of an acrylamide polymer, (1) a mixing tank in which the portion to be contacted with the hydrogel of an acrylamide polymer is made of a chromium-plated material is used, and (2) to said hydrogel aggregates is added at least one compound represented by the general formulae: ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 is a residue obtained by removing two OH groups from a saturated dihydric alcohol having 2 to 4 carbon atoms, and R.sub.2 is a residue obtained by removing three OH groups from a saturated trihydric alcohol having 3 to 6 carbon atoms, and having an average molecular weight of 500 to 5,000, whereby the hydrolysis of the acrylamide polymer can be achieved at a high efficiency while preventing the mutual adhesion of the hydrogel aggregates and also reducing the adhesion of the aggregates to the interior surface of the mixing tank to such an extent that there is substantially no problem of adhesion.

Abstract: In the production of a dried acrylamide polymer by polymerizing, in an aqueous medium, acrylamide alone or a monomer mixture comprising 50 mole % or more of acrylamide and at least one monomer copolymerizable therewith with a radical initiator, and then drying the resulting hydrous acrylamide polymer, the allowing of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole to be present in the drying step or a step prior thereto enables the dried acrylamide polymer having a high molecular weight and a good dissolvability in water to be obtained.

Abstract: In the production of a dried acrylamide polymer by polymerizing, in an aqueous medium, acrylamide alone or a monomer mixture comprising 50 mole % or more of acrylamide and at least one monomer copolymerizable therewith with a radical initiator, and then drying the resulting hydrous acrylamide polymer, the allowing of at least one of the following compounds [I], [II] and [III] to be present in the drying step or a step prior thereto enables the dried acrylamide polymer having a high molecular weight and a good dissolvability in water to be obtained:[I] a non-polymerizable compound having in its molecule at least one group represented by the formula, ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 is H or an alkyl group having up to 4 carbon atoms, [II] a compound represented by the formula, R.sub.2 --S--C.sub.n H.sub.2n X wherein n is an integer of 1 to 8, R.sub.2 is an alkyl group, an aryl group or --C.sub.n H.sub.2n X, in which X is --OH, --COOH (or its salt), --CN or --CONH.sub.