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The transition to university is a stressful period for young adults; however, there has been limited research examining the predictive role of dispositional mindfulness in supporting first-year students' adjustment to university. The current study sought to examine the relative contribution of gender, self-efficacy, perceived social support from friends and family, and dispositional mindfulness to domains of university adjustment (academic, social, personal or emotional, and institutional attachment). The sample consisted of 101 first-year university students (73% female; M = 18.20 years, SD = 0.79) and all data were collected using an online survey. Findings revealed dispositional mindfulness significantly predicted university adjustment even when controlling for self-efficacy and perceived social support. The present study is the first to provide empirical support for the protective role of dispositional mindfulness in university adjustment.

The present study explored differences in four domains of university adjustment (i.e. personal-emotional, social, academic, and institutional attachment) among students with and without a history of engaging in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and examined the independent influence of NSSI on university adjustment. Participants were 231 students from a large Canadian university who completed an online survey during their first and second year of university examining their perceived stress, perceived social support, coping self-efficacy, and university adjustment. Relative to students who never engaged in NSSI, those who did reported lower levels of university adjustment across domains. However, NSSI was not a significant predictor of university adjustment after accounting for perceived stress, perceived social support, and coping self-efficacy. This study provides preliminary evidence that engaging in NSSI may not confer additional risk for university adjustment, as students' psychological resources appear to be stronger determinants of adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to university is an exciting yet challenging period for many students. While previous research has documented the association between stress and adjustment, little is known about the long-term effect of students' early stress on their subsequent university adjustment. The present study sought to examine the effectiveness of a short, 4-item stress measure in predicting student adjustment to university following a 6- and 18-month delay. Participants were 122 first-year, undergraduate students (Mage = 18.36, SD =.89; 73.9% women) who reported their stress during their first semester (baseline), and university adjustment six months (T1) and 18 months later (T2). Baseline stress significantly predicted future adjustment to university at both timepoints, explaining 21% (T1) and 14% (T2) of the variance in adjustment. Results reinforce the importance of identifying early signs of stress during the transition to university given its enduring effect on students' adjustment. Findings are discussed within the context of approaches to student support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BK virus-associated nephropathy (BKVAN) causes renal allograft dysfunction. The current management of BKVAN relies on pre-emptive adaptation of immunosuppression according to viral load monitoring. However, this empiric strategy is not always successful. Therefore, pretransplant predictive markers are needed. In a prospective longitudinal study, we enrolled 168 kidney transplant recipients and 69 matched donors. To assess the value of BKV genotype-specific neutralizing antibody (NAb) titers as a predictive marker for BKV replication, we measured BKV DNA load and NAb titers at transplant and followed patients for 24 months. After transplant, 52 (31%) patients displayed BKV replication: 24 (46%) patients were viruric and 28 (54%) patients were viremic, including 13 with biopsy-confirmed BKVAN. At any time, patients with high NAb titers against the replicating strain had a lower risk of developing BKV viremia (hazard ratio [HR], 0.44; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.26 to 0.73; P =0.002). Each log 10 increase in NAb titer decreased the risk of developing viremia by 56%. Replicating strains were consistent with donor transmission in 95% of cases of early BKV replication. Genotype mismatch between recipients' neutralization profiles before transplant and their subsequently replicating strain significantly increased the risk of developing viremia (HR, 2.27; 95% CI, 1.06 to 4.88; P =0.04). A NAb titer against the donor's strain <4 log 10 before transplant significantly associated with BKV replication after transplant (HR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.06 to 3.45; P =0.03). BKV genotype-specific NAb titers may be a meaningful predictive marker that allows patient stratification by BKV disease risk before and after transplant., (Copyright © 2018 by the American Society of Nephrology.)