This book summarises the newest information on seasonal adaptation in animals. Topics include animal hibernation, daily torpor, thermoregulation, heat production, metabolic depression, biochemical adaptations, neurophysiology and energy balance. The contributors to this book present interdisciplinary research at multiple levels ranging from the molecular to the ecophysiological, as well as evolutionary approaches. The chapters of this book provide original data not published elsewhere, which makes it the most up-to-date, comprehensive source of information on these fields. The book’s subchapters correspond to presentations given at the 14th International Hibernation Symposium in August 2012 in Austria. This is a very successful series of symposia (held every four years since 1959) that attracts leading researchers in the field. Like the past symposia, this meeting – and consequently the book – is aimed not only at hibernation but at covering the full range of animal adaptations to seasonal environments. For the next four years, this book will serve as the cutting-edge reference work for graduate students and scientists active in this field of physiology and ecology. .

A perfect gift for fans of the Emmy Award-winning television series and feature film, A Year in the Life of Downtown Abbey: Seasonal Celebrations, Traditions, and Recipes will inspire you to recreate all the grandeur of the Grantham estate in your own home. It's 1924 and there have been many changes at Downton Abbey since the family and their servants first welcomed us there twelve years ago. A generation of men has been tragically lost at the front; children are once again breathing new life into the great house; a chauffeur now sits at the Grantham dinner table; and skirt hems continue to rise. Still, in the midst of all this upheaval, many things at Downton remain largely unchanged. Nanny still holds sway in the nursery, and there are still summer fetes to be organized, menus to be planned, and farms to be run. This gorgeous book explores the seasonal events and celebrations of the great estate—including house parties, debutantes, the London Season, yearly trips to Scotland, the sporting season, and, of course, the cherished rituals of Christmas. Jessica Fellowes and the creative team behind Downton Abbey invite us to peer through the prism of the house as we learn more about the lives of our favorite characters, the actors who play them, and those who bring this exquisite world to real life. A Year in the Life of Downton Abbey is packed full of exclusive new photographs, with a delicious array of traditional British recipes adapted for modern kitchens: kedgeree, orange marmalade, asparagus tarts, cream of watercress soup, Irish stew, lemon barley water, meringues with red berries, parmesan straws, Christmas pudding with brandy butter and more. From the moment when the servants light the fires against the chill of January, through the last family game of charades and the servants' Christmas ball, this magnificent book invites us to take part in twelve months in the life of Downton Abbey.

You were created to enjoy a real, conversational relationship with God. The Bible says that hearing the voice of our Creator is both central and natural to our existence as humans. When life falls apart, we need God's comfort. In moments of cultural turmoil, we need his clarity. Facing difficult decisions, we need his guidance. Desiring a deeper faith, we need God to say something, anything, to turn the monologue we call prayer into a genuine conversation. But how do we really hear God? Nothing could possibly matter more than learning to discern his authentic voice, and yet few things in life are more susceptible to delusion, deception, and downright abuse. Having addressed God's silence in God on Mute, and then How to Pray in his previous bestseller, Pete Greig is back to bring wisdom and guidance to one of the most pressing and perplexing aspects of universal Christian experience—How to Hear God. Exploring the story of Christ's playful, poignant conversation on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection, Pete draws deeply from the insights of a wide range of Christian traditions; weaving together the evangelical emphasis on hearing God in the Bible, and the charismatic commitment to hearing God in the prophetic, with the contemplative understanding of God's "still, small voice" within. "Pete transcends the Christian tribalism of our day… rooting us in something far more ancient, unchanging, timeless. What the early Christians called the Way. This ancient form of Christianity is the antidote to much of the modern church's pain. The cure for our ills." —John Mark Comer

This book provides an in-depth overview on the functional ecology of daily torpor and hibernation in endothermic mammals and birds. The reader is well introduced to the physiology and thermal energetics of endothermy and underlying different types of torpor. Furthermore, evolution of endothermy as well as reproduction and survival strategies of heterothermic animals in a changing environment are discussed. Endothermic mammals and birds can use internal heat production fueled by ingested food to maintain a high body temperature. As food in the wild is not always available, many birds and mammals periodically abandon energetically costly homeothermic thermoregulation and enter an energy-conserving state of torpor, which is the topic of this book. Daily torpor and hibernation (multiday torpor) in these heterothermic endotherms are the most effective means for energy conservation available to endotherms and are characterized by pronounced temporal and controlled reductions in body temperature, energy expenditure, water loss, and other physiological functions. Hibernators express multiday torpor predominately throughout winter, which substantially enhances winter survival. In contrast, daily heterotherms use daily torpor lasting for several hours usually during the rest phase, some throughout the year. Although torpor is still widely considered to be a specific adaptation of a few cold-climate species, it is used by many animals from all climate zones, including the tropics, and is highly diverse with about 25-50% of all mammals, but fewer birds, estimated to use it. While energy conservation during adverse conditions is an important function of torpor, it is also employed to permit or facilitate energy-demanding processes such as reproduction and growth, especially when food supply is limited. Even migrating birds enter torpor to conserve energy for the next stage of migration, whereas bats may use it to deal with heat. Even though many heterothermic species will be challenged by anthropogenic influences such as habitat destruction, introduced species, novel pathogens and specifically global warming, not all are likely to be affected in the same way. In fact it appears that opportunistic heterotherms because of their highly flexible energy requirements, ability to limit foraging and reduce the risk of predation, and often pronounced longevity, may be better equipped to deal with anthropogenic challenges than homeotherms. In contrast strongly seasonal hibernators, especially those restricted to mountain tops, and those that have to deal with new diseases that are difficult to combat at low body temperatures, are likely to be adversely affected. This book addresses researchers and advanced students in Zoology, Ecology and Veterinary Sciences.

This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! AS HEARD ON NPR MORNING EDITION AND ON BEING WITH KRISTA TIPPETT “Katherine May opens up exactly what I and so many need to hear but haven't known how to name.” —Krista Tippett, On Being “Every bit as beautiful and healing as the season itself. . . . This is truly a beautiful book.” —Elizabeth Gilbert "Proves that there is grace in letting go, stepping back and giving yourself time to repair in the dark...May is a clear-eyed observer and her language is steady, honest and accurate—capturing the sense, the beauty and the latent power of our resting landscapes." —Wall Street Journal An intimate, revelatory book exploring the ways we can care for and repair ourselves when life knocks us down. Sometimes you slip through the cracks: unforeseen circumstances like an abrupt illness, the death of a loved one, a break up, or a job loss can derail a life. These periods of dislocation can be lonely and unexpected. For May, her husband fell ill, her son stopped attending school, and her own medical issues led her to leave a demanding job. Wintering explores how she not only endured this painful time, but embraced the singular opportunities it offered. A moving personal narrative shot through with lessons from literature, mythology, and the natural world, May's story offers instruction on the transformative power of rest and retreat. Illumination emerges from many sources: solstice celebrations and dormice hibernation, C.S. Lewis and Sylvia Plath, swimming in icy waters and sailing arctic seas. Ultimately Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times. May models an active acceptance of sadness and finds nourishment in deep retreat, joy in the hushed beauty of winter, and encouragement in understanding life as cyclical, not linear. A secular mystic, May forms a guiding philosophy for transforming the hardships that arise before the ushering in of a new season.

Tentmaking is a growing reality in Western society that necessitates more reflection and relevant response from pastoral and mission leaders. The need to consider bivocational or multivocational ministries is catalyzed by established congregations wrestling with decline in attendance, by new immigrant communities looking for sustainable ways to minister, and by misunderstanding or lack of information on the nature of this ministry approach. This need is also triggered by the urgency to address biblical, theological, and pragmatic issues of tentmaking that can forge a way forward for the Canadian church in the midst of an uncertain future. This volume seeks to forge a way forward as a result of the Canadian Multivocational Ministry Project (CMMP), a qualitative and community-based research project among tentmaking pastoral leaders across Canada. This research partnered with the Wellness Project @ Wycliffe, which uses online questionnaires to assess wellness in congregational ministry. The CMMP research report and the wellness findings form the basis of the multifaceted reflections in the book by Canadian scholars, researchers, and multivocational practitioners. This book offers an accurate pulse of the challenges, opportunities, and future of tentmaking in relation to Christianity and the church in these uncertain times.