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Background: Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) Division of Dermatology receives many referrals from local clinics and hospitals. Some of these patients are admitted to the dermatology wards for diagnosis and/or management. It is important to look at the spectrum and outcome of these patients who are admitted to dermatology wards at the hospital, to inform policy. Objectives: To characterise the spectrum of dermatological conditions requiring admission, to determine the outcome and to describe the factors that may influence the outcome of dermatological conditions in patients admitted to the dermatology wards at Groote Schuur Hospital in South Africa. Methods: This research employed descriptive retrospective analysis to describe the dermatology inpatients who were admitted to dermatology wards at Groote Schuur Hospital over the period January 2017 to December 2017. Results: There were a total of 120 admissions to Groote Schuur Hospital Dermatology wards in 2017. Of these, 89 (74.1%) were new admissions and 31 (25.8%) re-admissions. The most frequent diagnosis was drug reaction (27.5%), followed by psoriasis (23.3%), eczema (17.5%), and bullous disease (10%). Less common indications for admission were infections, lupus erythematosus, scabies, ulcers, pyoderma gangrenosum and cutaneous small-vessel vasculitis. The outcome of the admission was usually favorable. Conclusions: The most common diagnoses on admission were drug reactions, psoriasis, eczema, and bullous diseases. The generally favorable outcomes would support the future use of inpatient care for people with severe skin disorders.

Hand hygiene is generally considered to be the most important measure that can be applied to prevent the spread of healthcare-associated infection (HAI). Continuous emphasis on this intervention has lead to the widespread opinion that HAI rates can be greatly reduced by increased hand hygiene compliance alone. However, this assumes that the effectiveness of hand hygiene is not constrained by other factors and that improved compliance in excess of a given level, in itself, will result in a commensurate reduction in the incidence of HAI. However, several researchers have found the law of diminishing returns to apply to hand hygiene, with the greatest benefits occurring in the first 20% or so of compliance, and others have demonstrated that poor cohorting of nursing staff profoundly influences the effectiveness of hand hygiene measures. Collectively, these findings raise intriguing questions about the extent to which increasing compliance alone can further reduce rates of HAI. In order to investigate these issues further, we constructed a deterministic Ross-Macdonald model and applied it to a hypothetical general medical ward. In this model the transmission of staphylococcal infection was assumed to occur after contact with the transiently colonized hands of HCWs, who, in turn, acquire contamination only by touching colonized patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of imperfect hand cleansing on the transmission of staphylococcal infection and to identify, whether there is a limit, above which further hand hygiene compliance is unlikely to be of benefit. The model demonstrated that if transmission is solely via the hands of HCWs, it should, under most circumstances, be possible to prevent outbreaks of staphylococcal infection from occurring at a hand cleansing frequencies <50%, even with imperfect hand hygiene. The analysis also indicated that the relationship between hand cleansing efficacy and frequency is not linear - as efficacy decreases, so the hand cleansing frequency required to ensure R0<1 increases disproportionately. Although our study confirmed hand hygiene to be an effective control measure, it demonstrated that the law of diminishing returns applies, with the greatest benefit derived from the first 20% or so of compliance. Indeed, our analysis suggests that there is little benefit to be accrued from very high levels of hand cleansing and that in most situations compliance >40% should be enough to prevent outbreaks of staphylococcal infection occurring, if transmission is solely via the hands of HCWs. Furthermore we identified a non-linear relationship between hand cleansing efficacy and frequency, suggesting that it is important to maximise the efficacy of the hand cleansing process.

Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 9 avril 2024) / Recouvrant la glace surélevée de Ward Hunt (traduction libre de *Ward Hunt Ice Rise, WHIR*) (Nunavut, Canada), des trous reconnus comme étant des points chauds de diversité microbienne avec des taux d'infection virale très élevés y sont retrouvés. La WHIR est actuellement stable, mais elle fait face aux conséquences des changements climatiques drastiques. Ce milieu naturel est éloigné des activités anthropiques et peut servir de référence avant d'être irréversiblement impacté. De plus, les communautés microbiennes des cryoconites ont su développer des gènes de résistance aux antibiotiques (GRA) loin de l'influence anthropique. Ainsi, les objectifs seront de caractériser la diversité et l'abondance virale et bactérienne dans l'eau de fonte et les sédiments des cryoconites. De plus, la présence de GRA, associés ou non aux virus sera identifiée. Les hypothèses sont les suivantes ; i) que les sédiments présentent une richesse relativement élevée de taxons viraux et bactériens par rapport à l'eau de fonte ; ii) que l'eau de fonte et les sédiments hébergeront des taxons spécifiques, entraînant un indice de dissimilarité élevé ; et iii) que les sédiments agiront comme un réservoir naturel de multiples GRA et que les virus joueront un rôle dans la dissémination de ces gènes. Une analyse par métagénomique a permis de conclure que l'eau de fonte présente une diversité microbienne plus élevée en comparaison avec les sédiments et que huit familles de GRA ont été retrouvées dans les sédiments de cryoconites, mais aucun GRA n'a été associé aux virus. Cette étude apporte donc de nouvelles données sur la diversité microbienne et recense la présence de GRA des cryoconites de l'Arctique canadien situés sur la WHIR. / Covering the Ward Hunt Ice Rise (Nunavut, Canada), meltwater-filled holes recognized as hotspots of microbial and viral diversity are present. While the Ward Hunt Ice Rise (WHIR) is currently stable, it is experiencing drastic climatic changes. Consequently, this pristine and remote environment can serve as a reference point for the future impacts of climate change. Moreover, cryoconite communities may support antimicrobial resistance gene (ARG) profiles, which have developed in isolation from anthropogenic antimicrobial pollution. Identifying environmentally intrinsic ARGs could serve as a comparative baseline to future community change. The objectives of this work were to characterize viral and bacterial diversity and abundance in meltwater and sediments. Additionally, the presence of ARGs within cryoconites was assessed, as was their association or lack thereof, with viral genomes. The hypotheses are: i) that sediments exhibit a relatively high richness of viral and bacterial taxa compared to meltwater; ii) that meltwater and sediments potentially harbor specific taxa, leading to a high dissimilarity index; and iii) it is hypothesized that sediments will act as a natural reservoir for multiple ARGs, with viruses playing a role in the dissemination of these genes. Metagenomic analyses revealed that meltwater represents the highest microbial diversity compared to sediments. Eight families of ARGs were identified in cryoconite sediments, but none were associated with viruses. This study provides new insights into microbial diversity and documents the presence of ARGs from Canadian Arctic cryoconites in the LIA.

The grazing management project in the Okhombe ward of the Amazizi Tribal Authority formed part of the National Department of Agriculture's LandCare program to address communal natural resource management issues. Okhombe land is communal whereby every member of the community is the legal owner of the rangeland with individual ownership of stock with the chieftaincy playing a major role in land allocation. In order to avoid critics of the past and address the top-down approach of the past interventions, a participatory approach was conducted in the planning and implementation of the grazing system. The service providers held a series of visioning workshops with the community in an effort to better understand community resource use patterns, needs, constraints and opportunities as part of the participatory approach. Issues identified by the community were the need for fencing grazing camps, animal health improvement, subdivision of rangeland and crop fields and the development of a rotational grazing system. The main aims of this study were to develop a participatory grazing plan with the community, develop and support institutional structures governing range management, and build capacity of the community in range management. The effect of the current grazing system on species composition was determined. In addition to these, the project investigated the potential different fodder trees has on alleviating feed and nutritional deficit, particularly during the dry winter months of the Upper Thukela. Among the main achievements of this study was the development and strengthening of local institutional structures and effective liaison by all structures with the Inkosi and the tribal council. The community developed a rotational grazing plan, marked the camp boundaries, produced digital maps and successfully built fence boundaries (approximately 20 kms of fencing) to divide their land. The fence boundaries separated the crop fields and rangeland, closed ward boundaries in the upland to prevent access by cattle from neighbouring wards, and divided the land into three camps. Six crush pens were constructed in each subward of the Okhombe ward. A communal herders fund opened and fence construction improved crop yields due to a decrease in crop damage by cattle. Okhombe ward, located in the Highland Sourveld region of KwaZulu-Natal, experiences feed and nutrition deficits to ruminants during winter. The prevailing species composition in Okhombe was investigated as part of the grazing plan. The veld condition of the sites ranged from poor (40.7%) in the bottomland to an averaged of 47.0% in upland sites. The most distinctive feature of the rangeland in this area was the loss of highly palatable Decreaser grass species (P <0.05), such as Themeda triandra in the bottom slopes « 1300 m) when compared to the upland (> 1800 m). The proportional abundance of Decreaser species accounted for an averaged of 1.02% of the bottomland and an averaged of 11.5% of the upland compared to the values of 49% in the benchmark (grassland in optimal condition). The composition of the less palatable Increaser Il species was very high at all elevations (1200 m -80.7%, 1400 m - 75.8% and 1700 m - 55.7%) when compared to the low benchmark composition of 19%. The dominant grasses of the bottom slopes were Increaser Il species, such as Eragrostis curvula, Eragrostis plana and Sporobolus africanus and unpalatable Increaser III species such as Aristida junciformis. A significant difference (P < 0.05) in the composition of Decreaser, Increaser I and Increaser Il species was found between the bottom and slopes compared to the upland region. However, the grass cover formed by these tufted species was generally high, making it more resistant to physical degradation. The bottom slope ranged from reasonable to excellent cover (16.9%), the middle slope ranged from reasonable (15.9%) to a good cover of 18.1%, averaging 16.7% and a range of 16.1% to 17.9% for the upland plateau. In the agroforestry trial the potential of different fodder species for supplementing fodder was examined. Leucaena leucocephala had the potential of being a suitable fodder tree species for use in alley cropping (P < 0.05) compared to Morus alba and Acacia karroo. Results from the partially intercropped treatments showed that L. leucocephala yield (665 kg ha-I) varied significantly (P < 0.05) from the A. karroo (378 kg ha-I) and M alba yield (345 kg ha-I). Treatments that were fully intercropped varied, but no significant difference (P > 0.05) were recorded. Morus alba produced the least yield of 345 kg ha-I, A. karroo yielded 378 kg ha-1 and 1. leucocephala recorded the high of 664 kg ha-I. Results from the second season showed similar trend in that 1. leucocephala yielded a significant (P < 0.05) fodder production of 1715 kg ha-I in comparison to M. alba (1101 kg ha-I) and A karroo (1140 kg ha-I). M alba yielded the least dry matter production (P < 0.05) but had high potential (P < 0.05) for addressing lack of firewood in rural areas. Morus alba yielded high fuel wood production from both two seasons. There were no significant differences in fuel wood yield (P > 0.05) from the partially intercropped M alba (507.9 kg ha-I) and 1. leucocephala (455.0 kg ha-I) but the yield from both species varied significantly from the A. karroo yield (103.kg ha-I). With regard to fully intercropped plots, fuel wood yield from all tree species varied significantly, A karroo resulting in low yield (63 kg ha-I), 1. leucocephala recorded 243 kg ha-l and M alba the highest yield of 444 kg ha-I. In the second season, M. alba yielded an averaged fuel wood production of 728 kg ha-l and a low of 439 kg ha-I from 1. leucocephala. Acacia karroo, a slow growing indigenous tree, might be preferred by farmers due to its less branches resulting in minimal light competition with crops. Leucaena leucocephala tend to grow slowly in its initial establishment stage, but once roots become well established, it grows fast and produces high quantity of fodder. The effect all fodder trees had on crop yield was not negative during the trial period and further research on long term effects of alley cropping is recommended. The conclusions drawn here were based on tree growth and their likely impact in alley cropping. Leucaena leucocephala was also recommended as a preferred species for rural ruminants based on the forage quality study. The results showed high content of crude protein (19.27%), low NDF content (50.38%) and very low tannin content (1.19%) from 1. leucocephala compared to A. karroo with a high tannin content of 5.69%. Acacia karroo had a crude protein content of 13.60%, NDF percentages of 44.16 and 34.64% of ADF content. Morus alba also had a recommended chemical composition of 11.71% of CP, 42.86% of NDF, 36.96% of ADF and a low tannin content of 0.65%. L. leucocephala foliage proven is readily degradable under different diet ranging within 24 hrs of intake (P < 0.001) compared to other feeds. L. leucocephala had high dry matter loss degraded from the rumen under Eragrostis hay diet with poor nutrients to high protein concentrates diet. Under the Eragrostis hay diet for instance, L. leucocephala tend to degrade rapidly with values of dry matter loss ranging from 32.2% to 39% at 4 hrs to 16 hrs, when compared to low dry mater loss of 26% at 4 hrs to 31.33% at 16 hrs. Feeds such as M alba tend to degrade slowly within 24 hrs of intake and rapidly degrades after the stated period. The ep content of maize stover was very low ranging from 1.60% in maize stalks to 2.63% in maize leaves. The fibre content in maize stover was very high when compared to lower values in fodder samples. The NDF content ranged from 77.92% in maize leaves to 81.60% in maize stalks. Maize leaves when compared to a combination of maize leaves and maize stalks sole tend to degrade better within 24 hrs of intake. This was due to low (P < 0.05) degradability rate of maize stalks compared to a combination of maize stalks and leave and leaves sole and least NDF content in maize leaves might have attributed to these results. Due to poor chemical compositions of these roughage samples, the study recommended the establishment of fodder banks and agroforestry systems to curb the nutrients deficit during winter. In conclusion therefore, this study highlight that the sustainability of rural systems to manage communal grazing land should be further explored. Most of the challenging issues in communal range management are social in nature rather than technical concepts. These include ways of improving social contributions from cattle to the community while maintaining cultural values of the use of cattle. The interventions in communal range management by service providers should understand the institutional arrangements within a community and an attempt to strengthen such existing structures is recommended. Further interventions by service providers in Okhombe ward should bring in the planning discussions, experts from social sciences, to deal with understanding of community dynamics. Complexities in communal range management involve dealing with non-stock owners within project boundaries. Communities from neighbouring wards should not be ignored and ways of improving communications and updating project details to them should be formulated. Shortage of land and closing of ward boundaries to prevent access to land by neighbouring wards is among community complexities to be explored. Communities in rural lands do share land and in most cases boundaries are known but invisible by an outsider to identify. It is important to strengthen and maintain every success in communal lands as that may form core of the project. Successes on grazing management by locals is far from being the improvement in veld but there are rather various factors to the successes of grazing projects in rural areas. Examples of successes based on Okhombe project are reduction in stock theft, improved in relationship between community and locals institutions, a reduction in stock mortalities during winter and improved animal health. Veld improvement is among successes but there are accomplishments phases to fulfil before focusing on improvement of species composition. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

This research is conducted within a postmodern and social construction discourse and in context of narrative and participatory pastoral care and therapy. It has been influenced by the voices of five contextual theologies: a participatory approach to practical theology, narrative, contextual, feminist and liberation theologies. The participatory action research seeks to highlight how narrative and participatory pastoral care and therapy with children at Mary Ward Children’s Home, Kwekwe, Zimbabwe creates an inclusive and caring community. It argues that though residential childcare facilities/children’s homes are considered the last resort in the childcare system, we are witnessing not their demise but their development due to the increased numbers of AIDS-orphans and other vulnerable children in our society. The research aims were:  To develop inclusive narrative and participatory pastoral care and therapy practices at the home.  To co-create narrative and participatory pastoral care and therapy practices that respect the knowledges of the children involved.  To develop an eco-spirituality as participatory pastoral care and therapy practice.  To explore and co-author creative practices of doing narrative and participatory pastoral care and therapy practices which will help the participants integrate into the Home and society. In conclusion, suggestions are made for a narrative and participatory pastoral care and therapy practice that is inclusive and caring. In terms of the experience of children living with disability and experiencing loss, as well as those children who have been abused, it is specifically described as therapeutic, empowering and life-giving. Therefore, home managers, caregivers and pastoral therapists are invited into an ethical and passionate practice of pastoral care and therapy that has the potential to transform the lives of children in a residential child care facility. / Thesis (D. Th. (Practical Theology))

This thesis deals with the stress, strain and stress level of stress. It examines what more burdens on JIPu sisters and what the standard department, what are the specifics of their work. Compares the work load and nursing department and the standard JIPu. It looks at how the situation affects of stress nurses. It outlines the causes and manifestations of stress effects on the human organism. He is also the burnout that often occurs among workers in the helping professions. The thesis is focused on the shift operation (especially on night shift), relationships at work (sister-sister, sister-doctor), the aggressive behavior of patients, or the lack of sufficient time for patient care. Research method is a questionnaire distributed to the nurses and the internal standard surgical wards and ICU. The evaluation questions of the questionnaire confirms or overthrows the hypothesis that I set at the beginning of research. The hypotheses were confirmed hypotheses 2 and 5 of the hypothesis was not confirmed. It was confirmed that the exchange operation and overload nurses, patient aggression, care of confused patients and bad interpersonal relations a high burden on medical personnel and contributes significantly to the stress load of nurses. In conclusion, I mention that a large role in preventing and...

A teoria quântica de campos pode ser vista como um conjunto de métodos e idéias que além de sua importância no estudo das partículas elementares, tem sido amplamente usada em outras áreas. Em especial, ela constitui uma ferramenta indispensável no estudo moderno de transições de fases e fenômenos críticos. A origem dessa constante relação entre a teoria de campos e a matéria condensada deve-se ao fato que, apesar de suas diferenças superficiais, ambas tratam de problemas envolvendo um grande número de graus de liberdade. Assim, não é surpreendente que as mesmas técnicas possam ser úteis nos dois campos. Este trabalho trata de problemas nessas duas áreas e está essencialmente divido em duas partes. A primeira parte é dedicada ao estudo de teorias de campos com uma anisotropia entre o espaço e o tempo, o que implica uma quebra da simetria de Lorentz. Uma das motivações para considerar esse tipo de teoria vem justamente do estudo de transições de fase em sistemas da matéria condensada. Análises do grupo de renormalização com ênfase na possibilidade de restauração da simetria de Lorentz e também uma discussão sobre identidades de Ward são realizadas. Na segunda parte, a atenção é voltada para a mecânica estatística mas com uma abordagem típica da teoria de campos, em especial, voltada para o estudo de transições de fase clássicas e quânticas a partir da versão quantizada do modelo esférico e de sua extensão supersimétrica. / Quantum field theory can be seen as a set of methods and ideas that, besides its importance in the study of the elementary particles, has been widely used in other areas. In particular, it constitutes an indispensable framework in the modern approach to phase transitions and critical phenomena. The origin of this constant relationship between field theory and condensed matter is due to the fact that despite their superficial differences, both deal with problems involving a large number of degrees of freedom. Thus, it is not surprising that the same techniques may be useful in both fields. This work addresses problems in these two areas and it is essentially divided in two parts. The first part is devoted to the study of field theories with an anisotropy between space and time, which implies a breaking of the Lorentz symmetry. One of the moti- vations for considering this kind of theory is precisely the study of phase transitions in condensed matter systems. Renormalization group analysis with emphasis on the possi- bility of restoration of the Lorentz symmetry and also a discussion about Ward identities are performed. In the second part, the attention is centered on statistical mechanics but with an approach typical of field theory, in particular, focused to the study of classical and quantum phase transitions from the quantized version of the spherical model and its supersymmetric extension.

Esta tese investiga novas estratégias para a construção de modelos em tempo real de Sistemas Elétricos de Potência. Busca-se a melhoria das funções de Estimação de Estado e aplicações correlatas por meio da consideração da medição fasorial sincronizada, fornecida por dispositivos PMUs, em ambientes onde as regiões monitoradas são de domínios de empresas diferentes e cuja distribuição geográfica apresenta distâncias consideráveis, como é o caso brasileiro. Uma das tarefas mais críticas dentro deste contexto é a representação adequada de sistemas não monitorados, que devem ser modelados de forma precisa, robusta e, preferencialmente, considerando dados que são acessíveis ao operador. A incorporação de redes externas em estimação multiárea é efetuada por uma etapa adicional de estimação ou embutida diretamente nos processos iterativos locais, mediante, neste último caso, a exigência de contínuos fluxos de dados entre áreas. No entanto, constata-se, neste estudo, que modelos clássicos de Equivalentes Externos reduzidos, particularmente os modelos tipo Ward, atendem satisfatoriamente aos requisitos computacionais e de precisão do problema, desde que sejam devidamente atualizados a cada mudança do ponto de operação. Desta forma, considerando sincrofasores de tensão e de corrente coletados por PMUs em regiões de fronteira, desenvolve-se um modelo de Estimação de Estado Descentralizada em que a etapa de pós-processamento por agentes externos independentes é removida, permitindo a obtenção do estado interconectado em um único passo, sem intercâmbio de dados operacionais em tempo real. Dois modelos são implementados, que diferem essencialmente na forma de tratamento dos dados de equivalentes externos. A metodologia é codificada em linguagem C++, sendo validada nos Sistemas IEEE de 14, 30 e 118 barras sob várias configurações de medição e de particionamento, mediante análise estatística e comparação de estimativas com valores de referência. Os resultados obtidos indicam a viabilidade da proposta para o fornecimento de modelos de estimação de estado mais confiáveis, adaptados à atual tendência de descentralização de redes elétricas, sem grandes alterações nas funções já existentes e sob um custo computacional reduzido. Sugerem também a factibilidade do tratamento conjunto das funções relacionadas a Estimação de Estado e Equivalentes Externos. / New approaches for the real time modelling of Power Systems are investigated in this work. The improvement of State Estimation and related functions is pursued with the aid of synchronized measurements gathered by PMU devices, in a multi-owner environment where utilities are independent and distributed across large distances, as in the Brazilian interconnected system case. One of the critical tasks on this subject is the correct representation of non-monitored networks in precise and feasible way, where less data traffic between operators is preferable. In Multiarea State Estimation, the incorporation of external networks is usually performed as the additional estimation phase or directly included in local estimation models by means of inter-area communication channels. This research shows that classic models of External Equivalents, specially Ward types, meet the computational and precision requirements of the problem if they are correctly updated after changes in the operating point. Thus, by using voltage and current synchrophasors measured by boundary PMUs, a Decentralized State Estimation model is developed, where the need for a post-processing higher coordination step is suppressed, allowing the interconnected state to be found rapidly, in a single step and with no real time data exchange. Two strategies of including on-line information about External Equivalents are proposed, taking it as regular measurements or constraints to be imposed in the classical formulation. A computational software coded in C++ language is built to support the models, which are validated with the IEEE-14, 30 and 118 test bed systems, under several placement strategies and split network schemes. A consistent statistical analysis of the results is also performed, where outcomes are compared with reference values of a regular estimator. Results indicate the feasibility to generate reliable and robust real time models, without significant changes in existing energy management applications, and also shows the greater benefits of integrating State Estimation and External Equivalents into a single framework.

A teoria quântica de campos pode ser vista como um conjunto de métodos e idéias que além de sua importância no estudo das partículas elementares, tem sido amplamente usada em outras áreas. Em especial, ela constitui uma ferramenta indispensável no estudo moderno de transições de fases e fenômenos críticos. A origem dessa constante relação entre a teoria de campos e a matéria condensada deve-se ao fato que, apesar de suas diferenças superficiais, ambas tratam de problemas envolvendo um grande número de graus de liberdade. Assim, não é surpreendente que as mesmas técnicas possam ser úteis nos dois campos. Este trabalho trata de problemas nessas duas áreas e está essencialmente divido em duas partes. A primeira parte é dedicada ao estudo de teorias de campos com uma anisotropia entre o espaço e o tempo, o que implica uma quebra da simetria de Lorentz. Uma das motivações para considerar esse tipo de teoria vem justamente do estudo de transições de fase em sistemas da matéria condensada. Análises do grupo de renormalização com ênfase na possibilidade de restauração da simetria de Lorentz e também uma discussão sobre identidades de Ward são realizadas. Na segunda parte, a atenção é voltada para a mecânica estatística mas com uma abordagem típica da teoria de campos, em especial, voltada para o estudo de transições de fase clássicas e quânticas a partir da versão quantizada do modelo esférico e de sua extensão supersimétrica. / Quantum field theory can be seen as a set of methods and ideas that, besides its importance in the study of the elementary particles, has been widely used in other areas. In particular, it constitutes an indispensable framework in the modern approach to phase transitions and critical phenomena. The origin of this constant relationship between field theory and condensed matter is due to the fact that despite their superficial differences, both deal with problems involving a large number of degrees of freedom. Thus, it is not surprising that the same techniques may be useful in both fields. This work addresses problems in these two areas and it is essentially divided in two parts. The first part is devoted to the study of field theories with an anisotropy between space and time, which implies a breaking of the Lorentz symmetry. One of the moti- vations for considering this kind of theory is precisely the study of phase transitions in condensed matter systems. Renormalization group analysis with emphasis on the possi- bility of restoration of the Lorentz symmetry and also a discussion about Ward identities are performed. In the second part, the attention is centered on statistical mechanics but with an approach typical of field theory, in particular, focused to the study of classical and quantum phase transitions from the quantized version of the spherical model and its supersymmetric extension.