kiddush Vki-dosh, ki-'dush\ Jewish prayer or blessing recited over a cup of wine immediately before the meal on the eve of the Sabbath or a major festival, acknowledging the sanctity of the day that is beginning. It is usu¬ ally performed by the head of the household, but it may involve all family members. After the recitation, each person sips wine from the cup. In the Ashkenazi tradition, two loaves of bread on the table signify the manna gathered by the Israelites during their years of wandering in the wilderness.
Kiderlen-Wachter Vke-dor-lon-'vek-torV, Alfred von (b. July 10, 1852, Stuttgart, Wiirttemberg—d. Dec. 30, 1912, Stuttgart) German dip¬ lomat. A career diplomat, he became foreign secretary in 1910 and pur¬ sued a belligerent foreign policy, working to establish Germany as the leading power in Europe through the Triple Alliance. In the second of the Moroccan crises (1911), he refused conciliatory offers by the French gov¬ ernment and excluded Britain from negotiations. Although German expansionists denounced the peace treaty as too lenient, Kiderlen’s brusque and forceful posturing during the crisis significantly aggravated the international tensions that led to World War I.
kidnapping Crime of seizing, confining, abducting, or carrying away a person by force or fraud, often to subject him or her to involuntary ser¬ vitude, in an attempt to demand a ransom, or in furtherance of another crime. Most countries consider it a grave offense punishable by a long prison sentence or death.
kidney One of a pair of organs that maintain water balance and expel metabolic wastes. Human kidneys are bean-shaped organs about 4 in. (10 cm) long, in the small of the back. They filter the entire 5-quart (about 4.5-liter) water content of the blood every 45 minutes. Glucose, miner¬ als, and needed water are returned to the blood by reabsorption. The remaining fluid and wastes pass into collecting ducts, flowing to the ure¬ ter and bladder as urine. Each kidney has over 1 million functional units (nephrons) involved in the process of filtration and reabsorption. The kid¬ neys also secrete renin, an enzyme involved in blood pressure regulation. Disorders include kidney failure, kidney stones, and nephritis. See also uri¬ nary system. See illustration on following page.
kidney failure or renal failure Partial or complete loss of kidney function. Acute failure causes reduced urine output and blood chemical imbalance, including uremia. Most patients recover within six weeks. Dam¬ age to various kidney structures can result from chemical exposure, major blood loss, crush injury, hypertension, severe burns, severe kidney infections, diabetes mellitus, renal artery or urinary tract blockage, and liver diseases. Complications include heart failure, pulmonary edema, and high potassium levels. Chronic failure usually results from long-term kidney diseases. The blood becomes too acidic, bones can lose calcium, and nerves can degen¬ erate. The kidneys can sustain life until they lose about 90% of their func¬ tion. If one is removed, the other increases in size and function to compensate. Failure of both usually requires dialysis or kidney transplant.
kidney stone or renal calculus Mass of minerals and organic mat¬ ter that may form in a kidney. Urine contains many salts in solution, and low fluid volume or high mineral concentration can cause these salts to precipitate and grow, forming stones. Large stones can block urine flow, be a focus for infection, or cause renal colic (painful spasms). They can obstruct the urinary system at various points. Treatment deals with any underlying problem (e.g., infection or obstruction), tries to dissolve stones with drugs or ultrasound (lithotripsy), or removes large ones surgically.
kidney transplant or renal transplant Replacement of a diseased or damaged kidney with one from a living relative or a legally dead donor. The former’s tissue type is more likely to match, reducing the chance of rejection; but removal puts the donor at risk, and a kidney from a dead donor is more likely to be available. The new kidney is implanted and its blood vessels and ureter sewn in place. A near-normal life may be resumed within two months, but the drugs that prevent rejection leave the patient vulnerable to infection. See also transplant.
Kido Takayoshi Vke-do-.ta-ka-'yo-sheV or Kido Koin \'ko-en\ (b. Aug. 11, 1833, Choshu, Nagato_ province, Japan—d. May 26, 1877, Tokyo) With Saigo Takamori and Okubo Toshimichi, one of the three giants of the Meiji Restoration of 1868. He became head of the government of the han (domain) of Choshu and in that capacity plotted with Saigo and Okubo of Satsuma to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate. In the new government, Kido was responsible for transferring the capital from Kyoto to Edo (renamed Tokyo) and for persuading the heads of the large han to return their domains to the emperor. He visited Europe in 1871 and on returning helped block a plan to invade Korea. In the late 1870s he worked for establishing a Western-style constitution.
Kiefer Vke-foA, Anselm (b. March 8, 1945, Donaueschingen, Ger.) German painter. In 1970 he studied under the conceptual artist Joseph Beuys. In such huge paintings as Germany’s Spiritual Heroes (1973) he used visual symbols, somber colours, and naive drawing to comment with irony and sarcasm on Germany’s tragic past. In the 1980s his colossal
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1034 I Kiel ► Kievan Rus
glomerulus
medulla
renal
artery
renal
ureter
Bowman's
capsules
collecting
duct
renal tubule
fibrous
capsule
renal
pelvis
— renal pyramid
cortex
Cross section of a kidney. The kidney is made up of an outermost cortex, a middle medulla, and an inner pelvis. Blood enters via the renal artery, which branches into smaller vessels, each of which terminates in a tuft of capillaries (glomerulus). Fluids from the blood are forced out of the glomerulus into the surrounding Bowman's capsule during filtration. The glomerulus, Bowman's capsule, and associated renal tubule make up the nephron. Any important substances filtered from the blood (including glucose, minerals, and much of the water) are returned to it by reabsorp¬ tion in the renal tubule. The medulla is divided into conical masses of tissue (renal pyramids) that contain the collecting ducts for the fluid (urine) not reabsorbed into the blood. Water is further removed from the urine as it passes through the collect¬ ing ducts into the funnel-shaped renal pelvis, which leads to the ureter.
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paintings acquired an intense physical presence by means of perspectival devices and unusual textures. He is one of the most prominent figures in late 20th-century Neo-Expressionism.
Kiel Vkel\ City (pop., 2002 est.: 232,242), capital of Schleswig-Holstein state, northern Germany. A port at the eastern end of the Kiel Canal, it was founded in 1242. It entered the Hanseatic League in 1284; in 1773 Kiel became part of Denmark. Schleswig-Holstein passed to Prussia in 1866, and Kiel became its capital in 1917. An important naval base, it was the target of Allied bombing during World War II. It is the site of St.
Nicholas Church (c. 1240), a ducal palace (c. 1280), and the Christian- Albrechts University of Kiel (founded 1665).
Kielland, Alexander (Lange) (b. Feb. 18, 1849, Stavanger, Nor.—d. April 6, 1906, Bergen) Norwegian novelist, short-story writer, and dramatist. Kielland, who was born into an aristocratic family, took a degree in law in 1871 and was a businessman for almost a decade. After a trip to Paris, he began to write. His first book of short stories was pub¬ lished in 1879, and he soon became dedicated to social reform. His influ¬ ential novels include Garman and Worse (1880) and Skipper Worse (1882), both of which are set in and around Stavanger. He was perhaps the foremost prose stylist of his day, and, together with Henrik Ibsen, Bjorn- stjerne BJ0RNSON, and Jonas Lie, he is considered one of the “big four” of 19th-century Norwegian literature.