text:
Water Contamination Lawsuit Filed As Flint, Michigan Water Crisis Continues
By: Michael L. Wright September 7, 2017 no comments
Water Contamination Lawsuit Filed Against Michigan And It's Governor As Residents Of Flint Michigan Continue To Deal With Lead-Conta
As the residents of Flint, Michigan continue to deal with lead contaminated water, a class action lawsuit has been filed by its' citizens. The governor and the state of Michigan are both named as being in the water contamination lawsuit and claims they were negligent in their implementation of the new water system for Flint, Michigan.
A state of Federal Emergency was declared and Flit Michigan was given state and federal aid to help pass out clean water and build new pipes to replace the ones damaged by the alternate water source. The state has offered $10 million to Flint as aid to restore their pipes and regain clean water.
The lawsuit was launched January 12th and accused the state of Michigan and the governor of Flint of "breaching the contractual obligation" which required the government to supply over 30,000 homes with clean, safe, potable water. The lawsuit states that some residents are still being billed for the contaminated water source through local water bills and through medical bills. Some of the citizens with the worst symptoms have also sued Flint's administration and other local officials.
Flint Michigan was the scene of a proposed water supply change that was supposed to conserve water and ensure the entire city had plenty of water. Instead, the lead-contaminated water caused nearly 100,000 people to suffer the effects of lead poisoning and the corrosive water damaged hundreds of miles of city pipes, requiring their replacement. Over an 18-month period, citizens of Flint suffered strange symptoms that lead to a diagnosis of lead poisoning for thousands. Children were hit the hardest and suffered the worst symptoms. Reports show that over 80 people have contracted legionnaires diseases due to contaminated water and it has resulted in over 10 deaths. [http://mwcnews.net/news/americas/56704-michigan-state-sued.html, January 2016]
The new water system was implemented in April 2014 as a way for Flint to save money on water. The new water source was the Flint River and Flint chose to draw its water from there after Flint was no longer able to accept water from Detroit due to hikes in water rates. The corrosion in the water caused old pipes to lead lead, poisoning thousands.
The state administration have denied allegations of negligence. The state said in a statement that it had been "working closely with the city to focus on health issues affecting children and other city residents, and address water infrastructure challenges," however, critics state that his efforts were too little too late. Investigations by Michigan's Auditor General have found that the state officials ignored red flags for several months before taking action. The Department of Environmental Quality in Michigan told citizens that the water was safe to drink although local doctors were finding high levels of lead in many patients.
According to some critics, even the Environmental Protection Agency was in on the danger and tried to cover up the situation. According to investigations, the EPA may have known about the water crisis as early as April 2015 but did not take action until October 2015.
One of the first doctors in Flint to recognize the danger, Dr Mona Hanna-Attisha is researching the effects of lead poisoning. "Lead poisoning has long-term impacts. It affects your cognitive development, your intelligence, and it is directly linked to violent behavior," she said. "There is no safe level of lead."
Wright & Schulte LLC is currently representing numerous Ohio and West Virginia residents in a water contamination lawsuit against DuPont. If you would like further information on your rights and legal recourse regarding injury and illness from contaminated water contact one of our firms attorney by visiting www.yourlegalhelp.com or 1-800-399-0795.
minated Water


I got a 30 day permit in place of my driver's license. Does this mean my license has been suspended?
No...or not yet. The permit the officer gave you is a sworn report to the DMV requesting your license be suspended administratively for a minimum of 1 year. You have thirty days from the date of your arrest to appeal this report and request an administrative hearing. If you do not request a hearing in thirty days, you license will be suspended automatically on the 46th day after your arrest. Filing an appeal makes a popstponement possible and can possibly keep a suspension from happening at all. The hearing is separate from any criminal hearing and its sole purpose is to determine whether or not your driving privilege is suspended and not to determine your guilt or innocence of the DUI.


text:
Ejaculation (grammar)
In grammar, an ejaculation is an utterance that expresses a feeling outside of the normal language structure. Often, but not always, it is an exclamation, most often consisting of a single word, either an interjection or a profanity or both.
* In English:
** The shout "Hey!".
** The "huh" in "That man? Huh! He's history!"
** "Glory to God!", "Glory be!", or "Praise the Lord!" In this context, this is known as a religious ejaculation, not to be confused with a religious profanity.
* In spoken French:
** The exclamation "Bien!".The term is now considered archaic, and "to ejaculate" is associated almost exclusively with the sexual meaning. But it was in common usage in the grammatical sense up to the latter part of the 19th Century and early part of the 20th. It can be found in popular culture such as the Biggles books and libretti by W. S. Gilbert. Nathaniel Hawthorne used it in attributions of dialogue, such as the famous "Great Carbuncle" reference to the "Lord de Vere". (Coincidentally, the same sentence also uses the word "intercourse" in a non-sexual sense.) An example of this usage from David Hickey's 1884 novel "William and Mary: A Tale of the Siege of Louisburg, 1745":
:""Shiver me timbers, but I'll dew suthin' with it," he ejaculated, holding up the missive and then feeling it over and over again."
*Interjection
*Discourse marker
Organizing vision
Ashton-under-Lyne (UK Parliament constituency)
Ejaculation (disambiguation) — Ejaculation may refer to: *Male ejaculation *Female ejaculation *Religious ejaculations *Ejaculation (grammar) … Wikipedia
Interjection — In grammar, an interjection or exclamation is a word used to express an emotion or sentiment on the part of the speaker (although most interjections have clear definitions). Filled pauses such as uh, er, um are also considered interjections.… … Wikipedia
Oi (interjection) — Oi ( /ˈɔɪ/) is a slang interjection used in Britain, Ireland, Australia, Singapore … Wikipedia
Mental disorders diagnosed in childhood — Classification and external resources ICD 10 F70 F98 ICD 9 … Wikipedia
Chakra — For other uses, see Chakra (disambiguation). Coloured Chakras with Descriptions … Wikipedia
Anthony Burgess — Infobox Writer name = John Anthony Burgess Wilson caption = The 2005 Cover of the Andrew Biswell biography (Picador) pseudonym = Anthony Burgess, Joseph Kell birthdate = birth date|1917|2|25|mf=y birthplace = Harpurhey, Manchester deathdate =… … Wikipedia
SAMARITANS — This article is arranged according to the following outline: history samaritan origins samaritans in the time of nehemiah the samaritans in the second temple period samaritans in the graeco roman diaspora excavations on mt. gerizim late roman to… … Encyclopedia of Judaism
Developmental psychology — Child Psychology redirects here. For the song by Black Box Recorder, see Child Psychology (song). For the journal, see Developmental Psychology (journal). Psychology … Wikipedia
Criticism of Wikipedia — Wikipedia is the largest free content encyclopedia project written by volunteers, as a result of which, it has attracted criticism. Notable criticisms include that its open nature makes it unauthoritative and unreliable (see Reliability of… … Wikipedia
List of Latin phrases (C) — This page lists direct English translations of Latin phrases, such as veni vidi vici and et cetera. Some of the phrases are themselves translations of Greek phrases, as Greek rhetoric and literature reached its peak centuries before that of… … Wikipedia

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: How to create an entity which, when stepped on, only switches a boolean value once while rendering? I am programming a simple Libgdx game utilizing TiledMap. I am attempting to create a pressure plate that, when stepped on by the player character, only switches an "activated" boolean value once. Currently, the boolean value is constantly switching within the rendering function I am drawing the pressure plate.
I am assuming this is relatively simple, just cannot wrap my head around it.
Here is the PressurePlate class as it stands:
public class PressurePlate extends GameTrigger {
     private boolean activation; // whether the pressure plate is "on" or "off"

     public PressurePlate (Texture img, Vector2 initialPos) {
         super ("PressurePlate", initialPos, img, true);
     }

     public boolean isCurrentlyUsed (ArrayList <Entity> entities) {

         for (Entity e : entities)
         {
             if (e.getIntPositionX() == this.getIntPositionX() && e.getIntPositionY() == this.getIntPositionY())
             {
                 return true;
             }
         }

         return false;
     }

     public boolean isActivated () {
         return this.activation;
     }

     public void setIsActivated (boolean isActivated) {
         this.activation = isActivated;
     }

 }

Thanks!

A: That means setIsActivated is called many times with different values. You should check where it is called, write logs in setIsActivated to record the parameter when it is called.
If you want help from here, you need to post all codes that call setIsActivated, else nobody can help.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
The heart and soul of Harlem
John L. Walters
Art Kane Harlem 1958
Wall of Sound Editions, deluxe €350, trade €45
The black-and-white Esquire photo of 57 jazz musicians (plus a few local children) posed in front of a Harlem brownstone on 12 August 1958 is justly celebrated within the worlds of photography, editorial art direction and jazz. Its story has been told in a full length documentary – A Great Day in Harlem (dir. Jean Bach, 1994) – and at least two children's picturebooks.
Taken by Art Kane (1925-95) for Esquire's 'Golden Age of Jazz' special (January 1959), the picture has inspired countless tributes, including spreads in New York Post ('A Great Day in Spanish Harlem'), Straight No Chaser ('A Great Day in Hoxton') and many more. Art Kane Harlem 1958 adds detail to the story, including all the contacts sheets from the session (example above), plus a generous sequence of prints and details from the original negatives.
While Kane struggled to get his subjects in place at 52 126th Street, his camera captured details of the friendly drama that ensued while the jazz stars caught up with one another. We see pianists Marian McPartland and Mary Lou Williams; a worried Lester Young; a smiling Charles Mingus; super-cool saxophonists Sahib Shihab and Gerry Mulligan. Kane captured handshakes, hats, shades and cigarettes. A rag-and-bone man trots by on a horse-drawn cart, impervious to the street closure Kane had arranged with local police.
The gathering crossed generations: Willie 'The Lion' Smith (above) was weary and out of shot when Kane got his final picture. The great stride pianist can be seen smoking a cigar, cane in hand, in many of the out-takes. Snapshots by bassist Milt Hinton show Kane, Esquire editor Harold Hayes and art director Robert Benton.
The book includes brief biographies of all the musicians present, and there is a section with the portraits Kane made for the same edition of Esquire, including Duke Ellington on the subway train immortalised in 'Take the "A" Train'.
A section of appendices record some of Kane's other work, including location shots from the 1955 film Pete Kelly's Blues, 'Harlem Soul', another Esquire shoot, and some regal portraits of Aretha Franklin and her sisters.
Only two of the participants survive – saxophonists Benny Golson and Sonny Rollins. Golson contributes a short memoir and there are fascinating texts by Quincy Jones, Art Kane himself and Kane's son Jonathan Kane, who edited this lavish photobook.
John L. Walters, editor of Eye, London
First published in Eye no. 98 vol. 25, 2019
Eye is the world's most beautiful and collectable graphic design journal, published quarterly for professional designers, students and anyone interested in critical, informed writing about graphic design and visual culture. It is available from all good design bookshops and online at the Eye shop, where you can buy subscriptions and single issues. You can see what Eye 98 looks like at Eye Before You Buy on Vimeo.
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text:
New Bill Will be a Boost For Cannabis Industry
Anthony Planas | Jul 27, 2021 | Palm Beach Daily | 5 min readPrint
On July 14, the most significant marijuana bill to date hit the U.S. Senate floor.
The Cannabis Administration & Opportunity Act (CAOA) calls for full federal legalization of cannabis. That's a step further than bills like the MORE Act and SAFE Act… which only tried to ease restrictions on cannabis companies operating in legal states.
And the CAOA comes on the heels of cannabis legalization in Mexico just two weeks earlier.
The Mexican Supreme Court ruled that prohibition of cannabis was unconstitutional… And on June 28, it gave its 130 million citizens the right to grow their own cannabis until politicians could craft rules for commercial growing and selling.
Mexico joins the ranks of Canada and Uruguay as the only countries that allow legal adult-use of cannabis… Another 45 countries have legalized medicinal use.
So the timing of the CAOA isn't a coincidence. The U.S. is bordered by two countries with legal cannabis… not to mention the 36 U.S. states that have legalized cannabis in some form or another, including 18 with full legalization.
Here's why this is important to you… We're in the final moments before the levee breaks.
Over 140 million Americans live in states with legal access to cannabis… And according to an April 2021 Pew Research Center poll, 60% of Americans say cannabis should be legal for recreational and medical use and 91% approve of medical cannabis.
Despite this overwhelming support, the federal government still prohibits cannabis. But the writing is on the wall. Nationwide legalization is coming. And the CAOA is the latest proof.
So this is your last chance to make an asymmetric bet on cannabis… before it goes fully mainstream…
A $340 Billion Market
Last year, the global legal cannabis industry generated $19.5 billion in revenues… And this year, it's set to break that record with an estimated $24 billion in sales.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg…
According to Research & Markets, the industry will generate an estimated $90 billion in sales by 2026…
That's because more countries are considering legalization. For instance, Israel, Italy, and South Africa are making serious progress towards legalization.
Israel's new government has made legalizing marijuana a top priority… Italy's supreme court has already legalized small personal amounts… and South Africa's politicians are working on a bill that would legalize adult-use.
We expect these nations to end prohibition in the next year.
And as legalization spreads, more money will flow into publicly traded cannabis companies. As investors, that's our opportunity to profit.
But we want to position ourselves before the dam breaks.
According to cannabis market research firm New Frontier Data, an estimated $340 billion in annual cannabis sales happen on the black market. That's more than 28 times greater than legal sales.
The end of prohibition will shift that $340 billion to publicly traded cannabis companies. Plus, it'll expand the opportunities for new cannabis products like infused drinks and edibles.
Global alcohol sales come in at roughly $1.4 trillion per year… And the top-10 biggest alcohol companies are worth about $1.3 trillion.
By comparison, the 10 biggest cannabis companies are only worth about $49 billion combined.
As cannabis catches up to beer, wine, and liquor sales… we could see the entire cannabis market grow a staggering 17x from current levels… And some of the biggest names could go on to return over 27,000%.
So we have the chance to buy into the next Anheuser-Busch or Diageo before it explodes onto the world stage.
Even better, you don't have to be an insider or invest a fortune to see those thousand-percent returns…
Bet Small, Win Big
Cannabis stocks represent what we at PBRG call an asymmetric opportunity. Here's Daily editor Teeka Tiwari on the power of asymmetric bets:
An asymmetric trade is one where the potential upside of a position greatly exceeds its potential downside. Opportunities that have the potential to go up 10x, 50x, 100x, or even more than the entry price.
If you risk $500 for the chance of making $50,000, you're making an asymmetric bet. This approach allows you to turn tiny amounts of money into life-changing gains without putting your current lifestyle at risk.
Sounds simple enough… but these asymmetric opportunities are hard to find… and even harder to act upon.
That's because asymmetric opportunities are often misunderstood… And by the time everyone catches on, the biggest returns are long gone.
Take cryptos like bitcoin and Ethereum… Big T first recommended bitcoin in April 2016.
At the time, some people dismissed cryptos as magic internet money. Warren Buffett even called bitcoin "rat poison squared."
But Teeka saw the power of blockchain technology to disrupt the traditional finance industry… and his subscribers saw the chance for life-changing returns.
Those who followed him in 2016 when he first recommended bitcoin saw the chance to make returns as high as 15,933%… enough to turn $1,000 into more than $160,332.
Today, we see a similar opportunity in cannabis…
Remember, even with federal prohibition, the industry generated nearly $20 billion in sales last year. And by 2026, it'll more than triple to $90 billion.
And that doesn't account for the $340 billion in spending that'll eventually flow into the space once prohibition is ended. That's a potential 17x gain right there.
So now's the time to position yourself. Especially while sentiment in the cannabis space is low… and quality companies are trading at massive discounts to their all-time highs.
Like crypto, cannabis stocks are highly volatile. So you'll see wild price swings. But as Big T says, that's the price we pay for the chance to make life-changing gains.
Once sentiment catches up to the facts on the ground – like the CAOA bill in the U.S. Congress and legalization in Mexico – we'll see cannabis stocks explode to the upside again.
If you'd like broad exposure to this trend, consider the AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (MSOS). The fund holds a basket of top-performing U.S. cannabis companies.
Remember, the key to asymmetric bets is rational position-sizing. Smaller investors should only invest $200 to $400… And larger investors should only invest $500 to $1,000.
Smaller position sizes will limit your losses… while still setting you up for the chance at the life-changing gains we expect to see in legal cannabis.
P.S. Just like the exploding legal cannabis megatrend, crypto also holds some untapped asymmetric opportunities…
And one of the most lucrative is something we call "Tech Royalties."
Tech Royalties are a way to earn additional yield on your crypto – paid out in more crypto – no matter which way prices move… and some could see massive gains of 3x, 5x, 10x, and more.
To learn more about Tech Royalties – and find out how you can start earning them right now – click here.


We've used a large range of techniques to stablise our steep slope, you can read about some of them here, here and here. Yet another way we've used recycled materials to keep our slope from sliding down the hill is using timber pallets.
We salvage these for free from the side of the road, building sites and warehouses. They're treated with heat, so are chemical free – this means they'll break down sooner rather than later, but before they do, you can use them in *countless* ways. If you're searching for some yourself, look out for the "HT" stamp on the pallet as seen below.
We had never tried this technique before and seeing as it's a super hot and dry slope, were unsure which plants would really thrive in such a compromising position (without heaps of pampering). Because of this, we initially planted a range of herbaceous, edible and native plants to 'test' which one/s would work. The winner (by far) was creeping boobialla (Myoporum parvifolium). We're big fans of this vigorous native ground cover and have planted it in some of the hardest spots in our garden where not much else survives (except invasive grasses). One of these plants will happily cover up to two-three square metres densely which is absolute gold when you live on steep slopes. Check it out!
You can see some of the pallet structure peeking out in the top left hand corner. Creeping boobialla puts down roots along the length of its "branches", so while we planted each plant at the top of the bank it's now put down roots from top to bottom.
At the top of the bank is where the creeping boobialla meets a solid planting of garden thyme, an edible herb that is also a ground cover – we love the way they merge into one another seamlessly.
So in solidarity with all of you slope dwellers out there (it's hard work, hey) we offer up yet another approach to working with steep, steep slopes to foster landscapes which are accessible, productive and beautiful. All power to you!
I've just finished a week of goat sitting Matilda and Pip – two Toggenburg goats who live on the edge of Hobart. My daily trips to milk Matilda, pat Pip and lean on the gate watching them jump up onto high stuff in their paddock has got me all dreamy and desiring some of our own.
Pip's the chilled one, while Matilda (the milker) a bit more bossy – I love them both. I love that milking just one of these relatively compact animals provides more than enough milk for a small household to make their cheese, have milk on our porridge and tea/coffee plus give some away to friends.
My first day of milking them saw me with this image above – an almost full bucket of milk on the ground. Trying to milk a goat and wrangle a *very* excited one year old who likes eating goat poo and trying to hug goats is hard work guys. Milking was more peaceful when she stayed at home!
The internet tells me that there are over 300 goat breeds worldwide and the Toggenburg is considered the oldest breed that was registered sometime in the 1600s. I like them as they don't conquer any fence (i.e. they can be contained), are fairly stocky and wonderfully natured. Our one year old daughter spent 1 second being a bit scared of them and the rest of the time trying to hug them.
As we live on an urban block (1300m2) full of edible food, we don't have space for our own goats. One day we'd like to be able to have goats in our neighbourhood, closer to home – perhaps shared with others. A little paddock we can walk to daily to milk and admire our goat friends. Until then I'll be the first to put my hands up (both of them) to do any goat sitting in our neck of the woods.
We get a lot of questions about comfrey and its role in the garden. It's often toted as one of 'must have' plants due to its multifunctionalism, and overall we agree – this plant is unusually useful. However there's also a fair bit of confusion about some of it characteristics, such as will it spread and take over your garden? Is it really a dynamic accumulator? Am I allowed to eat it? Doesn't it deter fungi in the soil? So in the name of efficiency, I'm writing this blog to answer all these questions plus more.
Creeping comfrey (Symphytum grandiflorum) is also known as dwarf comfrey and as its name suggests, it will creep through the whole space that you plant it in. Therefore only plant it if this is what you want. It's also been described as ornamental comfrey. This is the comfrey that will quickly become a "weed" in your garden, so be careful where you place it. Image from here.
Russian comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum) is the most popular type of comfrey for the grower, it's a hybrid of Symphytum officinale (common comfrey) and Symphytum asperum (rough comfrey). There are two main cultivars used, Bocking 14 and Bocking 4, both were developed in the 1950s by Lawrence Hills (founder of the Henry Doubleday Research Association) and named after the place they were developed, Bocking in the UK.
Bocking 14 was apparently chosen from over 20 different varieties trialed by Hills due to having the highest yields with high potash content. Bocking 14 is sterile, so doesn't set seed and can only be propagated by division. However it will still slowly increase in size so it's wise to dig it up and divide it up every few years.
Bocking 4 is said to have a deeper tap root – up to 8-10 feet, while Bocking 14 is around 6 – 8 feet. It's described as the preferred type for a farming context as it has the highest concentration of protein, is more rust resistant and is also recommended as a good fodder for livestock, including pigs and chooks. Image from our garden.
Along with a decent list of other plants, it's known as what's called a dynamic accumulator. However there isn't actual solid, scientific evidence on how effective comfrey is in this regard. There are some well written, clear articles you can read about this here and here which summarise it nicely.
My personal approach is that while the science it still out on its role as a dynamic accumulator, I still recommend this plant be included in your garden for a *range of reasons*. We use it to stablise slopes with its great root system, medicinally, as mulch in our orchard and as fresh food for our chooks.
In our young orchard, comfrey is planted directly downhill of the trees, stabilising a steep bank, we slash the leaves and use them as mulch (image on right), cycling the nutrients back into the soil.
Despite the science not being bullet proof, you can't ignore the countless gardeners who swear that by adding comfrey to your garden you end up with healthier soils and crops. There are endless methods you can do this, have a read here and here for just some of them.
Comfrey's antifungal – isn't that bad for my soil?
I'm not sure. In our own garden we haven't seen any evidence of this and we're really big on encouraging fungi in our soils through strategies like using ramial woodchips. The only references I could find to its antifungal properties were in a medicinal context, rather than gardening.
Am I allowed to eat it?
No, is the short, legal answer.
In 1984 the Poisons Advisory Bureau (through the National Health and Medical Research Council) placed it on the Poisons Schedule in Australia. The Council listed comfrey as a dangerous poison, only to be available through pharmacists, by doctor's prescription. This decision is thought to have come about due to a public scare in the late 1970s with newspaper headlines reading things like 'Liver damage can be done by herbs', 'Popular Herb is a Killer', 'Scientist Warns Herb is a Killer', ' Health Drink Causes Cancer, says CSIRO expert' and 'Comfrey is a Killer'.
Why are people scared? Comfrey has pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA's), these are regarded as potentially hepatoxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic. PA's are believed to have an accumulative effect in the body and may cause hepatic vein blockage and liver toxicity. In the early 2000s the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also removed comfrey products from market for this reason.
Can I feed it to my animals?
My understanding that in moderation, yes. I feed it to our chickens as part of a mixed leafy green mix and they love it. Some folks say their chickens will only eat dried or aged comfrey (so the prickliness of the leaves goes away) – if you have rough comfrey (Symphytum asperum) this may be extra important to do. If you're unsure – do some local research, talk to some animal experts or don't do it.
Also known as "knit bone", comfrey leaf can be made into a poultice and applied to breaks, sprains and bruises. I've used this my whole life and there's a notable improvement, i.e. decrease of swelling, bruising and pain, each time I'm able to apply a comfrey poultice quickly.
As outlined above, you're not meant to ingest comfrey at all. However I grew up drinking comfrey and dandelion 'green drink' my mum would make us when sick – without a doubt it helped us feel better (other ingredients included fresh apple or carrots and ginger).
I actually have a memory refusing to drink it as I knew I'd get better quicker and was trying to take as many days off school as possible. But I'm not a health professional, so please don't take this as advice, just note that I'm still alive, healthy and that to this day I continue to eat and drink comfrey sporadically (not every day) as I want to.
If you'd like your (non-creeping) comfrey to remain a blessing and not a curse, don't plant it in your annual vegetable garden/s. No matter what variety you choose, the seasonal digging that you do to harvest crops and prep the bed will inevitably result in you digging into the comfrey's root zone. Each time you chip a bit of the root off it will blossom into its own vigorous plant and eventually take over the whole veggie patch. Instead, plant it somewhere where you won't be digging – like your orchard, a designated bed or beneath/amongst some perennial vegetables/berries.
Saying all that, I do know people who like to grow it on the edge of the annual gardens as a border to prevent grass from creeping in – this is risky business as I've outlined above. You could however plant comfrey on the *outside* of the annual garden which I've seen many times. There's a border (i.e. timber sleeper) between it and the actual garden bed, keeping it contained while still highly accessable to chop and drop as mulch onto the garden.
Comfrey is dead easy to grow. In short, hack a small chunk of root off and pop it in the ground – it will grow. You can read our blog about how to do it here.
I'm no expert on comfrey and am always interested to learn more, so please send through your own experiences and information on what works (or doesn't work) for you.


text:
\section{Introduction}
We need to find the Higgs boson for a conclusive test of the
electroweak symmetry breaking mechanism
of the Standard Model. The
search for the Higgs boson, therefore, has high priority at LEP,
TEVATRON, LHC, and a future $e^+e^-$ Linear Collider.
To facilitate searching for the Higgs boson we need to
study not only the production mechanisms, but also all possible
decay modes. While in
the Standard Model (SM) there is only one physical Higgs
particle, extensions of the SM contain more Higgs
bosons.

In this contribution we consider Higgs particle decays in
the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM)
\cite{bartl:cit1}. The MSSM implies the existence of
five physical Higgs bosons $h^0$, $H^0$, $A^0$, and $H^\pm$
\cite{bartl:cit2,bartl:cit3}.
Provided that all SUSY particles are very heavy, the $H^+$ decays
mainly into $t\bar{b}$, and below the $t\bar{b}$ threshold
the decays $H^+ \to \tau^+ \nu$ and/or $H^+ \to W^+ h^0$ are
dominant  \cite{bartl:cit2,bartl:cit4}.
Similarly, if all decay modes of $H^0$ and $A^0$ into SUSY
particles are kinematically forbidden, they decay dominantly into a
fermion pair of the third generation.
Higgs boson decays into supersymmetric (SUSY) particles
can be very important if they are kinematically allowed.
The decays into charginos and neutralinos can have
large branching ratios, and can significantly change the
signatures of SUSY Higgs particles \cite{bartl:GuHa,bartl:DjOhm}.
The decays into squarks can be the dominant decay modes of Higgs
bosons in a large parameter region in case that the squarks
are relatively light
\cite{bartl:citH+tree,bartl:citH0tree}.

For a precise determination of the Higgs boson couplings to
quarks and squarks we need to include the SUSY--QCD
corrections in the calculation of the decay widths.
The SUSY--QCD corrections in ${\cal O}(\alpha_s)$ were calculated in the
on--shell scheme for the
processes $H^+ \to t \bar b$ in \cite{bartl:citH+qcd,bartl:Jimenez},
and for $H^0, A^0 \to q \bar{q}$
in \cite{bartl:Coarasa}. For the decays of
Higgs particles into squark pairs we calculated the SUSY--QCD corrections
in the on--shell scheme in \cite{bartl:citHiggsqcd}, including
squark--mixing and a proper renormalization of the mixing angle
$\theta_{\tilde q}$ \cite{bartl:squarkprod}. The SUSY--QCD
corrections to Higgs boson decays into squarks were also studied
in \cite{bartl:hollik} recently.

In this talk we review our work on the branching ratios of Higgs
boson decays. In order to show how the branching ratios of the
various decay modes depend on the SUSY parameters, we will first
summarize the tree--level results. Then we will take into account
the SUSY--QCD corrections in ${\cal O}(\alpha_s)$ for the decay
branching ratios into third generation quarks and squarks. We will show
that in most cases the SUSY--QCD corrections are significant and
need to be included.

At tree--level the
masses of the MSSM Higgs bosons depend on the two parameters $m_A$
and  $\tan\beta$. $m_A$ is
the mass of the pseudoscalar Higgs boson $A^0$, and
 $\tan\beta=\frac{v_2}{v_1}$ is the ratio of the vacuum
expectation values of the two neutral Higgs doublet states
\cite{bartl:cit2,bartl:cit3}.
The mass of $h^0$ gets
large radiative corrections from one--loop contributions.
We will take into account these corrections using the formulae
of \cite{bartl:radhiggs}.
The experimental lower bounds on the Higgs boson masses from LEP
are $m_{h^0} > 62$~GeV and $m_{A^0} > 62$~GeV \cite{bartl:aleph}.
In addition to $\tan\beta$, the main SUSY parameters in the chargino
and neutralino systems are the Higgs--higgsino mass parameter
$\mu$ and the $SU(2)$ gaugino mass parameter $M$. We assume that
$M$ is related to the gluino mass $m_{\ifmmode{\tilde{g}} \else{$\tilde{g}$} \fi}$ and the $U(1)$
gaugino mass parameter $M'$ by
$M=(\alpha_2/\alpha_s(m_\ifmmode{\tilde{g}} \else{$\tilde{g}$} \fi))m_{\ifmmode{\tilde{g}} \else{$\tilde{g}$} \fi}=3/(5\tan^2\theta_W)M'$.
For the third generation squarks and sleptons we also need
the mass parameters $M_{\tilde{Q}}$, $M_{\tilde{U}}$,
$M_{\tilde{D}}$, $M_{\tilde{L}}$, $M_{\tilde{E}}$,
and the trilinear scalar coupling parameters $A_t$, $A_b$ and
$A_{\tau}$.

\section {Tree--Level Widths}
In the following we will use the short--hand notation
$H^k$, $k=1, 2, 3, 4$, for the Higgs bosons of the MSSM, with
$H^1 \equiv h^0$,
$H^2 \equiv H^0$,
$H^3 \equiv A^0$, and $H^4 \equiv H^+$.
The decay widths for $H^k\rightarrow q \bar q$, $k=1, 2, 3$,
$q=t, b$, and $H^+\rightarrow t \bar b$
are given by
 \begin{eqnarray}
\Gamma^{tree}(H^k\rightarrow q \bar q)  & = & \frac{3 g^2 m_q^2
(d_k^q)^2 m_{H^k}}{32 \pi m_W^2 \, a_q^2}\left(1 - \frac{4
m_q^2}{m_{H^k}^2}\right)^{(3/2 - \delta_{k3})}\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\! (k = 1,2,3),

                         \\
\Gamma^{tree}(H^+\rightarrow t \bar b)  & = &
\frac{3 \kappa(m_{H^+}^2, m_t^2, m_b^2)}{16 \pi m_{H^+}^3} \times
    \nonumber\\
&& \left[
(m_{H^+}^2 - m_t^2 - m_b^2) (y_t^2 + y_b^2) - 4 m_t m_b y_t y_b\right]\, ,
  \label{bartl:H+quarks}
 \end{eqnarray}
with $\kappa(x,y,z)\equiv ((x-y-z)^2-4yz)^{1/2}$,
$d_1^t =  d_2^b = \cos\alpha$, $d_2^t =  -d_1^b = -\sin\alpha$,
$d_3^t = a_b = \cos\beta$,
$d_3^b = -a_t = -\sin\beta$, where
$\alpha$ is the mixing angle in the $h^0$ -- $H^0$ system
\cite{bartl:cit2,bartl:cit3}. $y_t$ and $y_b$ are related to the
Yukawa couplings and are
  $y_t = h_t \cos\beta = g m_t \cot\beta /(\sqrt{2} m_W)$ and
  $y_b = h_b \sin\beta = g m_b \tan\beta /(\sqrt{2} m_W)$.
The decay widths into top quarks are large due to the large top
quark mass. If $\tan\beta > 20$, the decay modes into
bottom quarks can also become important. Asymptotically for
$m_{H^k} \gg m_q$ the Higgs boson decay widths into quarks are
proportional to $m_{H^k}$.

The Higgs boson decay widths into squarks of the third
generation depend on $\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_L - \ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_R$ mixing. This
mixing is described by the squark mass matrix which in
the basis ($\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_L$, $\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_R$), $\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi=\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi$ or $\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi$, and in the
diagonalized form is
\begin{equation} \label{bartl:eq1}
\left( \begin{array}{cc}m_{LL}^2 & m_{LR}^2 \\ m_{RL}^2 & m_{RR}^2
\end{array} \right)=
(R^{\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi})^{\dagger}\left( \begin{array}{cc}m_{\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_1}^2 & 0 \\ 0 &
m_{\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_2}^2 \end{array}
\right)R^{\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi}\, ,
\end{equation}
where $R^{\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi}_{i\alpha}$ is a $2 \times 2$ rotation matrix with
rotation angle $\theta_\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi$, and
\begin{eqnarray}
m_{LL}^2 &=& M_{\tilde{Q}}^2+m_q^2+m_Z^2\cos 2\beta
(I^{3L}_q-e_q\sin^2\theta_W)\, , \\
m_{RR}^2 &=& M_{\{\tilde{U},
\tilde{D}\}}^2+m_q^2+m_Z^2\cos 2\beta\, e_q
\sin^2\theta_W\, , \\
m_{LR}^2 &=& m_{RL}^2 =
m_q(A_q-\mu(\tan\beta)^{-2I^{3L}_q}) \, . \label{bartl:eq4}
\end{eqnarray}
$I^{3L}_q$ and $e_q$ are the third component of isospin and the
electric charge of the quark $q$, and $\theta_W$ is the Weinberg
angle.
The mass eigenstates $\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_i, i=1, 2$, ($m_{\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_1}<m_{\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_2}$) are
related to the states $\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_{\alpha}, \alpha=L,R$, by
$\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_i=R^{\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi}_{i\alpha}\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_{\alpha}$.

\noindent The widths of the decays
$H^k \rightarrow \ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_i \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi}_j$ at tree--level are
\begin{equation} \label{bartl:eq6}
\Gamma^{tree}(H^k\rightarrow\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_i\bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi}_j) =
\frac{3 \kappa(m_{H^k}^2, m_{\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_i}^2, m_{\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_j}^2 )}{16\pi
m_{H^k}^3}|G_{ijk}^\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi|^2\,.
\end{equation}
For $k = 1, 2, 3$ we have $\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi = \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi, \ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi$,
and for $k = 4$ we have $\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_i \equiv \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i$,
$\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_j \equiv \ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_j$, $(i,j = 1,2)$.
The expressions for the couplings $G_{ijk}^\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi$
are given in \cite{bartl:citHiggsqcd}.
The Higgs boson decay widths into squarks can be large in the case of
large squark mixing. For example, the width of
$A^0 \rightarrow \ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_1 \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi}_2$
is directly proportional to
$|m_q (A_q (\tan\beta)^{-2I^{3L}_q} + \mu)|^2$. The same
expressions appear in the couplings $G_{ij4}$ for the decays
$H^+\rightarrow\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i\bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi}_j$. The $H^0\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_j$
couplings
can be large since they contain terms proportional to $m_t$, and
the $H^0\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_i \ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_j$ couplings can be large if $\tan\beta > 20$.
More details can be found in \cite{bartl:citH0tree}. For
$m_{H^k} \gg m_{\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_i}$ the widths of Higgs boson decays into
squarks behave asymptotically like $1/m_{H^k}$.

In the calculation of the corresponding branching ratios we have
included the widths of the following $H^+$,
$H^0$ and $A^0$ decay modes:\\
\begin{tabular}{lrcl}
({\romannumeral 1}) &
$H^+$ &$\to$&
$t \bar b$, $c \bar s$, $\tau^+ \nu_\tau$, $W^+ h^0$, $\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_j$,
$\tilde{\chi}^+_k \tilde{\chi}^0_l$,  $\tilde{\tau}_i^+
\tilde{\nu}_\tau$, $\tilde{\ell}_L^+ \tilde{\nu}_\ell \,(\ell = e, \mu)$,\\
({\romannumeral 2})&
$H^0$ &$\to$& $t\bar{t}$, $b\bar{b}$, $c\bar{c}$,
$\tau^-\tau^+$, $W^+W^-$, $Z^0Z^0$, $h^0h^0$, $A^0 A^0$,
$W^\pm H^\mp$, \\
&&& $Z^0A^0$, $\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i\bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi}_j$,
$\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_i\bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi}_j$, $\ifmmode{\tilde{\ell}} \else{$\tilde{\ell}$} \fi^-_i\ifmmode{\tilde{\ell}} \else{$\tilde{\ell}$} \fi^+_j$, $\ifmmode{\tilde{\nu}} \else{$\tilde{\nu}$} \fi_\ell\bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{\nu}} \else{$\tilde{\nu}$} \fi}_\ell$
($\ell = e, \mu, \tau$), $\ifmmode{\tilde{\chi}} \else{$\tilde{\chi}$} \fi^+_i\ifmmode{\tilde{\chi}} \else{$\tilde{\chi}$} \fi^-_j$,
$\ifmmode{\tilde{\chi}^0} \else{$\tilde{\chi}^0$} \fi_k\ifmmode{\tilde{\chi}^0} \else{$\tilde{\chi}^0$} \fi_l$, and\\
({\romannumeral 3})&
$A^0$ &$\to$& $t\bar{t}$, $b\bar{b}$, $c\bar{c}$,
$\tau^-\tau^+$, $Z^0h^0$, $\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_1\bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi}_2$, $\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_2\bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi}_1$,
$\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_1\bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi}_2$, $\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_2\bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi}_1$,
$\ifmmode{\tilde{\tau}} \else{$\tilde{\tau}$} \fi^-_1\ifmmode{\tilde{\tau}} \else{$\tilde{\tau}$} \fi^+_2$, $\ifmmode{\tilde{\tau}} \else{$\tilde{\tau}$} \fi^-_2\ifmmode{\tilde{\tau}} \else{$\tilde{\tau}$} \fi^+_1$,\\
&&& $\ifmmode{\tilde{\chi}} \else{$\tilde{\chi}$} \fi^+_i\ifmmode{\tilde{\chi}} \else{$\tilde{\chi}$} \fi^-_j$, $\ifmmode{\tilde{\chi}^0} \else{$\tilde{\chi}^0$} \fi_k\ifmmode{\tilde{\chi}^0} \else{$\tilde{\chi}^0$} \fi_l$.
\end{tabular}

\vspace{2mm}

Formulae for these widths are found e.~g. in \cite{bartl:cit2}.
We have not taken into account loop induced decay modes like
$H^+ \to W^+ Z^0, W^+ \gamma$, $H^0 \to gg, \gamma\gamma$ etc.,
and three-body decay modes \cite{bartl:gunion,bartl:zerwas1}.

We have shown in \cite{bartl:citH+tree,bartl:citH0tree} that the
branching ratios for
decays into squarks, $H^+ \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi}_j$,
$H^0 \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi}_j, \ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_i \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi}_j$, and
$A^0 \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_1 \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi}_2 ,\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_1 \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi}_2$ can be
larger than $50\%$ in a sizeable region of the SUSY parameter space.
To illustrate this we show in Figs.~\ref{bartl:figII}a, and c the
tree level decay widths (dashed lines)
$\Gamma (H^0 \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi}) \equiv
\sum_{i,j} \Gamma (H^0 \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi}_j)$ and
$\Gamma (A^0 \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_1 \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi}_2)$ as a function of $m_A$. For
comparison we also show in Figs.~\ref{bartl:figII}a and c
the tree level decay
widths $\Gamma (H^0 \to t \bar{t})$ and
$\Gamma (A^0 \to t \bar{t})$ (dashed lines). Fig.~\ref{bartl:figIII}a
shows the
tree level decay widths
$\Gamma (H^+ \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi}) \equiv
\sum_{i,j} \Gamma (H^+ \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi}_j)$ and
$\Gamma (H^+ \to t \bar{b})$ as a function of $m_A$ (dashed lines).
 In these plots we have assumed the relations
$M_{\tilde{Q}} : M_{\tilde{U}} : M_{\tilde{D}}
 = 1 : \frac 8 9 : \frac{10}{9}$ for the
squark mass parameters, and
$A \equiv A_t = A_b$ for the trilinear scalar coupling
parameters. We have taken $M_{\tilde Q} =120$~GeV,
$A=280$~GeV, $\mu=300$~GeV, $M=140$~GeV, and $\tan\beta
=3$. In the plots we have required $m_{h^0} > 70$~GeV.
For large $m_{A^0}$ one has $m_{H^+} \approx m_{H^0} \approx m_{A^0}$.
For this set of parameters we have (in GeV)
($m_{\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_1}$, $m_{\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_2}$, $m_{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_1}$, $m_{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_2}$, $m_{\ifmmode{\tilde{g}} \else{$\tilde{g}$} \fi}$,
$m_{\tilde \chi_1^0}$, $m_{\tilde \chi_1^+}$) =
(102, 271, 121, 145, 412, 63, 116).
In the examples shown, the decay widths
$\Gamma (H^0 \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi})$,
$\Gamma (A^0 \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_1 \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi}_2)$, and
$\Gamma (H^+ \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi})$ are always much larger than the
decay widths $\Gamma (H^0 \to t \bar{t})$,
$\Gamma (A^0 \to t \bar{t})$, and
$\Gamma (H^+ \to t \bar{b})$, respectively. The corresponding
branching ratios for decays into third generation squarks
are much larger than 50\% in the whole $m_A$ range shown
where these decays are kinematically allowed.
The branching ratios for the decays into sbottoms,
$H^0 \to \ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_i \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi}_j$ and $A^0 \to \ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_1 \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi}_2$
turn out to be less than 3\% due to the low $\tan\beta $ value
considered.

\section{SUSY--QCD Corrected Decay Widths}
In Section 2 we have seen that the Higgs boson decays into
squarks can be important. Therefore, it is
necessary to include the SUSY--QCD radiative corrections in the
calculation of the widths for the decays into squarks and into
quarks. In this section we will review some of our results about
the branching ratios of Higgs boson decays including
the SUSY--QCD corrections in ${\cal O}(\alpha_s)$. For
further details concerning the theoretical calculation of these
corrections we refer to
\cite{bartl:citH+qcd,bartl:Jimenez,bartl:Coarasa,bartl:citHiggsqcd,bartl:hollik}.

The Feynman diagrams for the virtual ${\cal O}(\alpha_s)$ SUSY--QCD
corrections are shown in Fig.~\ref{bartl:figI}.
We work in the on--shell
renormalization scheme. We first discuss the radiative
corrections for the Higgs boson decays into squarks. In this
case the virtual corrections consist of
the vertex corrections, wave function corrections, and
the corrections due to the shift from the bare couplings to the
on--shell couplings. We use the scheme
introduced in \cite{bartl:squarkprod} for
$e^+e^- \to \ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_i \bar\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_j$, where we fixed the counterterm
of the squark mixing angle such that it cancels the
off--diagonal term of the squark wave--function correction to
$e^+e^- \to \ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_1 \bar\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_2$. For the shift
$\delta \theta_{\tilde q}$ we take the same
expression as in \cite{bartl:squarkprod}. A more detailed
discussion of the on--shell renormalization of the squark mixing
angle $\theta_{\tilde q}$ is given in \cite{bartl:majer}.

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\hspace*{-4mm}\mbox{\epsfig{figure=bartl_fig1.eps,width=12cm}}
\end{center}
\caption[bartl:fig1]{Feynman diagrams for the
calculation of the virtual ${\cal O}(\alpha_s)$ SUSY--QCD
corrections to the decay widths $H^k \to \ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_i \bar\ifmmode{\tilde{q}} \else{$\tilde{q}$} \fi_j$
and $H^k \to q \bar q$. \label{bartl:figI}}
\end{figure}
The calculation of the SUSY--QCD corrections to the decay widths
of $H^+ \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi}$ and of the branching ratios of $H^0$
and $A^0$ decays involves both the stop
and the sbottom sector. We have to pay special attention to the
parameter $M_{\tilde Q}$ in the on--shell scheme. $SU(2)_L$
symmetry requires that at tree--level and in the $\overline{DR}$
scheme the parameter $M_{\tilde Q}$ is the same in the stop and
sbottom mass matrix (see eq.(4)).
However, in the on--shell scheme this is no more the
case, because the shifts from the $\overline{DR}$ parameters to the
on--shell parameters are, in general, different for the stop
and sbottom sectors.
In the present case we choose $M_{\tilde Q}(\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi )|_{OS}$ in
the stop sector as the on--shell input parameter. Then
$M_{\tilde Q}(\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi )|_{OS}$ in the sbottom sector is shifted by
the amount
\begin{equation}
M^2_{\tilde Q}(\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi )|_{OS} = M^2_{\tilde Q}(\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi )|_{OS} +
\delta M^2_{\tilde Q}(\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi ) -  \delta M^2_{\tilde Q}(\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi) \, .
\label{bartl:eq8}
\end{equation}
The  shift
$\delta M^2_{\tilde Q}(\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi ) -  \delta M^2_{\tilde Q}(\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi )$ is
ultra--violet finite due to the underlying $SU(2)_L$ symmetry.

We also include the SUSY--QCD corrections for the Higgs decays
into third generation quarks, taking the formulae of
 \cite{bartl:citH+qcd,bartl:Jimenez,bartl:Coarasa}.
In the following numerical examples we assume for the
on--shell input parameters the same relations as for the
tree--level quantities,
$M_{\tilde{Q}}(\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi) : M_{\tilde{U}} : M_{\tilde{D}} : M_{\tilde{L}} :
M_{\tilde{E}} = 1 : \frac 8 9 : \frac{10}{9} : 1 : 1$ and
$A \equiv A_t = A_b = A_\tau$.
We take $m_t = 175$~GeV, $m_b = 5$~GeV, $m_Z = 91.2$~GeV, $m_W = 80$~GeV,
$\sin^2\theta_W=0.23$, $\alpha_2 = 0.0337$,
and $\alpha_s = \alpha_s(m_{H^k})$ for $H^k$ decay. We use
$\alpha_s(Q)=
12\pi/\{(33-2n_f)\ln(Q^2/\Lambda_{n_f}^2)\}$,
with $\alpha_s(m_Z)=0.12$, and the number of quark flavors $n_f=5(6)$ for
$m_b<Q\le m_t$ (for $Q>m_t$).

In addition to the tree--level decay width we show in
Fig.~\ref{bartl:figII}a
also the SUSY--QCD corrected decay width
$\sum_{i,j} \Gamma(H^0 \to  \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi}_j)$ and
$\Gamma(H^0 \to  t \bar{t})$ as a function of $m_A$ (full lines).
In Fig.~\ref{bartl:figII}c we show also the SUSY--QCD corrected widths
$\Gamma(A^0 \to  \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_1 \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi}_2)$ and
$\Gamma(A^0 \to  t \bar{t})$, and in Fig.~\ref{bartl:figIII}a those of
$\sum_{i,j} \Gamma(H^+ \to  \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi}_j)$ and
$\Gamma(H^+ \to  t \bar{b})$. We have taken
$M_{\tilde{Q}}(\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi) = 120$~GeV, and for $A, M, \mu$, and
$\tan\beta$  the same values as in the tree--level calculation.
The masses of $\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_1$, $\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_2$, $\ifmmode{\tilde{g}} \else{$\tilde{g}$} \fi$, $\tilde \chi_1^0$, and
$\tilde \chi_1^+$ are the same as mentioned at the end of Section~2,
however, those of
$\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_1$ and $\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_2$ are different due to
eq.~(\ref{bartl:eq8}). For the parameters used we get
$M_{\tilde{Q}}(\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi) = 134$~GeV, $m_{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_1} = 127$~GeV, and
$m_{\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_2} = 151$~GeV.
This means that the shift
$(M_{\tilde Q}(\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi) - M_{\tilde Q}(\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi))|_{OS}$ at one--loop
level is about 10\%
of the tree--level value of $M_{\tilde Q}$. As can be seen in
Figs.~\ref{bartl:figII}a,~c and Fig.~\ref{bartl:figIII}a,
the corrections to the sums
of the decay widths
$\sum_{i,j} \Gamma(H^0 \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_j)$,
$\sum_{i,j} \Gamma(H^+ \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_j)$, and to
$\Gamma(A^0 \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_1 \bar\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_2)$ are significant and can be
larger than 30\%.
The modes into bottom
quarks and sbottoms are very small compared to the top and stop modes
and are not shown. In Figs.~\ref{bartl:figII}b and d
we show the SUSY--QCD
corrected branching ratios for $H^0$ and $A^0$ decays into
squarks, quarks, charginos and neutralinos,
and in Fig.~\ref{bartl:figIII}b
those for $H^+$ decays. In the examples shown the squark decay
modes are always the dominant ones.
The discontinuities in
$\sum_{i,j} \Gamma(H^0 \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_j)$ and
$\sum_{i,j} \Gamma(H^+ \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_j)$, and in the
corresponding branching ratios, are due to decay channels opening.\\
\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\mbox{\epsfig{figure=bartl_fig2.eps,width=12cm}}
\end{center}
\caption[bartl:fig2]{Tree--level and SUSY--QCD corrected decay
widths into squarks and quarks
((a) and (c)) and important branching ratios ((b) and (d))
for the neutral Higgs boson decays,
$H^0, A^0 \to \sum_{i,j=1,2}(\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_j + \ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_i \bar\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_j)$
(full line), $H^0, A^0 \to t \bar t + b \bar b$ (dashed line),
and $H^0, A^0 \to \sum_{i,j=1,2} \tilde\chi_i^+  \tilde\chi_j^- +
\sum_{i,j=1,4} \tilde\chi_i^0  \tilde\chi_j^0$ (dashed--dotted line),
as functions of $m_{A^0}$. \label{bartl:figII}}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\mbox{\epsfig{figure=bartl_fig3.eps,width=12cm}}
\end{center}
\caption[bartl:fig3]{(a) tree--level and SUSY--QCD corrected decay
widths into squarks and quarks
and (b) important branching ratios
for the charged Higgs boson decays,
$H^+ \to \sum_{i,j=1,2} \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_j$
(full line), $H^+ \to t \bar b$ (dashed line),
and $H^+ \to \sum_{i=1,2} \sum_{j=1,4}  \tilde\chi_i^+  \tilde\chi_j^0$
(dashed--dotted line), as functions of $m_{A^0}$. \label{bartl:figIII}}
\end{figure}
The SUSY--QCD corrections to the widths of individual
decay modes into squarks, $H^0 \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_j$ or
$H^+ \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_j$, may go up to 50\%. They may also
be negative. When summed over the individual decay channels, the
SUSY--QCD corrections to
$\sum_{i,j} \Gamma(H^0 \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_j)$ and
$\sum_{i,j} \Gamma(H^+ \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar\ifmmode{\tilde{b}} \else{$\tilde{b}$} \fi_j)$ are in many cases
positive, whereas those for the decays into quarks
are in general negative.
Therefore, in these cases the branching ratios for decays into
squarks are enhanced by including the SUSY--QCD corrections.

We also studied the $m_{\tilde t_1}$ and $\mu $ dependence of the
tree--level and SUSY--QCD corrected branching ratios.
Figs.~\ref{bartl:figIV}a
and b show the branching ratios
$\sum_{i,j} B(H^0 \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_i \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi}_j)$ and
$B(A^0 \to \ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi_1 \bar{\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi}_2)$ as a function of $m_{\tilde
t_1}$ by varying $M_{\tilde Q} = M_{\tilde Q}(\ifmmode{\tilde{t}} \else{$\tilde{t}$} \fi)$,
taking $m_A = 600$~GeV, $\mu =300$~GeV, $M=140$~GeV,
$\tan\beta =3$, and $A=280$~GeV. Figs.~\ref{bartl:figV}a and b
show the same
branching ratios as a function of $\mu $, taking $M_{\tilde Q} =
120$~GeV, and the remaining parameters as in Figs.~\ref{bartl:figIII}.
For $\mu < 500$~GeV the branching ratios for $H^0$ and $A^0$ decays into
squarks increase with increasing $\mu$. This is a consequence of the
$\mu$--dependence of the widths for the decays into charginos and
neutralinos.

\section*{Acknowledgements}
We are very grateful to Prof. Joan Sol\`a for his kind invitation
to this interesting workshop. We really enjoyed its inspiring
atmosphere and its informative character.
This work was supported by the "Fonds zur F\"orderung der
wissenschaftlichen Forschung" of Austria, project no. P10843--PHY.

\section*{References}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


is a Ukrainian author and journalist. He is author of Die reale und die imaginierte Ukraine [The real and the imagined Ukraine], Suhrkamp 2006.
Mykola Riabchuk recalls how the politics of the Prague Spring filtered through to the Ukraine until the crackdown on 'Ukrainian bourgeois nationalism' in 1972-73; and how, during perestroika, the roles were reversed and he was able to bring banned literature to friends in Czechoslovakia.
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