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Browse the failure-mode index

21,245 real negative results, null findings, and replication failures. Search the index →

WASTE indexes published research — it does not host or republish full papers. Each entry is a metadata record compiled from open scholarly databases; the abstract is shown in full only where the paper is openly licensed, otherwise a short excerpt under fair use. Classifications are automated and approximate.

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeuroscience

Music and Language Processing Share Behavioral and Cerebral Features

Clara E. James · 2012 · Frontiers in Psychology

A commentary on Musical expertise and statistical learning of musical and linguistic structures by Schön, D., and François, C. (2011). Front. Psychology 2:167. doi: 10.3389/ fpsyg.2011.00167 Both language and music consist of discrete elements organized in embedded hierarchical structures. Schön and François nicely expose in this review that musical expertise facilitates learning of both linguistic and musical structures. At the behavioral level, the musicians did not outperform the nonmusicians. However, ERP analyses showed that acquisition of boundary perception (segmentation) between units

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeuroscience

Higher visual areas act like domain-general filters with strong selectivity and functional specialization

Meenakshi Khosla, Leila Wehbe · 2026 · Nature Communications

Neuroscientific studies rely heavily on a-priori hypotheses, which can bias results toward existing theories. Here, we use a hypothesis-neutral approach to study category selectivity in higher visual cortex. Using only stimulus images and their associated fMRI activity, we constrain randomly initialized neural networks to predict voxel activity. Despite no category-level supervision, units in the trained networks act as detectors for semantic concepts like 'faces' or 'words', providing solid empirical support for categorical selectivity. Importantly, this selectivity is mostly maintained when

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Holding vs Continuing GLP-1/GIP Agonists Before Upper Endoscopy

Akram I. Ahmad, Samita Garg, Jeffrey Jacobs et al. · 2026 · JAMA Internal Medicine

Importance: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) are known to increase the risk of retained gastric contents. High-quality data are lacking to guide periprocedure management of GLP-1 and GIP agonists. Objective: To compare the risk of clinically significant residual gastric volume (RGV) in patients who continue vs hold 1 dose of weekly or daily GLP-1 and GIP agonists prior to sedation. Design, Setting, and Participants: This randomized, single-masked clinical trial conducted at 2 large tertiary referral centers in the US included patients under

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessImmunology and Microbiology

The Interleukin Network in Sepsis: From Cytokine Storm to Clinical Applications

Marcello Candelli, Marta Sacco Fernandez, Gloria Rozzi et al. · 2025 · Diagnostics

Background and Objectives: Despite major advances in medical science and critical care, sepsis remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide: it arises from dysregulated host response to infections and may culminate in organ dysfunction. A hallmark of its pathogenesis is the cytokine storm, in which interleukins (ILs) serve as central mediators of both protective and deleterious immune responses. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the role of ILs in sepsis, emphasizing their potential as biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Material and Methods: We analyzed recent cl

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Replication FailureOpen accessNeuroscience

Pridopidine in early-stage manifest Huntington’s disease: a phase 3 trial

Ralf Reilmann, Andrew Feigin, Anne Rosser et al. · 2025 · Nature Medicine

Huntington's disease (HD) is a rare, neurodegenerative disorder for which only symptomatic treatments are available. The PROOF-HD study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of pridopidine, a selective Sigma-1 receptor agonist, in HD. The primary and key secondary endpoints, change in total functional capacity (TFC) and composite Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (cUHDRS) score at week 65, were not met in the overall population. The TFC least-squares mean difference between pridopidine and placebo was -0.18 (95% confidence i

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Breaking the outer membrane barrier: structure, targets, and antimicrobial strategies for Gram-negative bacteria

Fanzhuo Xu, Yu Xie, Weiwei Yu et al. · 2026 · Frontiers in Microbiology

Multidrug resistance in Gram-negative bacteria has become a significant global public health challenge, threatening human health and clinical treatment outcomes. The unique outer membrane structure of these pathogens greatly limits antibiotic penetration, serving as the core mechanism of resistance. This paper systematically analyses antimicrobial strategies targeting the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, mainly including: (1) directly disrupting the outer membrane structure and enhancing drug permeability; (2) inhibiting the biosynthesis or transport pathways of key outer membrane com

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeuroscience

Tactile processing in mouse cortex depends on action context

Eric A. Finkel, Yi-Ting Chang, Rajan Dasgupta et al. · 2024 · Cell Reports

The brain receives constant tactile input, but only a subset guides ongoing behavior. Actions associated with tactile stimuli thus endow them with behavioral relevance. It remains unclear how the relevance of tactile stimuli affects…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessEngineering

Anisotropic spin stripe domains in bilayer La3Ni2O7

Naman Gupta, Rantong Gong, Y. Wu et al. · 2025 · Nature Communications

The discovery of superconductivity in La3Ni2O7 under pressure has motivated the investigation of a parent spin density wave (SDW) state, which could provide the underlying pairing interaction. Here, we employ resonant soft x-ray scattering…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Molecular mechanisms underlying the abscopal effect induced by radiotherapy and its synergistic translational potential with immunotherapy

Xinyi Chen, Mu Yang, Yongbiao Huang et al. · 2025 · Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology

Abscopal immunity—the regression of distant, non-irradiated lesions after localized radiotherapy (RT)—signals conversion of focal DNA damage into systemic antitumor immunity. This review advances a unifying three-stage…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessAgricultural and Biological Sciences

Mechanism, Efficacy, and Safety of Natural Antibiotics

Andrei Teodor Matei, Anita Ioana Vișan · 2025 · Antibiotics

The growing ineffectiveness of common antibiotics against multidrug-resistant pathogens has made antimicrobial resistance (AMR) a serious global health concern. This review emphasizes that natural antibiotics from animals, bacteria, fungi, and plants are worthy alternatives for combating this crisis. Evolutionary pressure has shaped these molecules, leading to antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can withstand single-target synthetic drugs but are vulnerable to multiple attack pathways (e.g., cell wall disruption, protein synthesis inhibition, biofilm interference) from natural compounds. Natura

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Research advances in the study of traditional Chinese medicine formula granules on signaling pathway-mediated disease mechanisms

Zhuoxu Gu, Zhonghao Wang, Xianquan Zhang et al. · 2025 · Frontiers in Pharmacology

As a modern dosage form of traditional Chinese medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine Formula Granules (TCMFG) maximally retains active metabolites through standardized production processes, including dynamic countercurrent extraction and low-temperature concentration. This serves as a critical material basis for elucidating its multi-target regulatory mechanisms. Recent studies have highlighted the significant potential of TCMFG in treating complex diseases, such as inflammation, tumors, metabolic disorders, fibrosis, and orthopedic conditions like osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, by modulati

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessSocial Sciences

The Impact of a $10,000 Bonus on Special Education Teacher Shortages in Hawai‘i

Roddy Theobald, Zeyu Xu, Allison F. Gilmour et al. · 2025 · Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis

We study the impact of a bonus policy in Hawai‘i Public Schools that raised the salaries of all special education teachers by $10,000. We estimate that this policy reduced the proportion of vacant special education teaching positions…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeuroscience

Precision fMRI reveals that the language network exhibits adult-like left-hemispheric lateralization by 4 years of age

Ola Ozernov‐Palchik, Amanda O’Brien, Elizabeth Jiachen Lee et al. · 2026 · Nature Communications

In adults, left hemisphere (LH) damage often leads to aphasia, but many cases of early damage leave linguistic processing intact, with a functional language system developing in the right hemisphere. To explain this early apparent equipotentiality of the two hemispheres for language, some have proposed that the language system is more bilateral during early development and becomes increasingly left-lateralized with age. We examined language lateralization using fMRI in two large developmental cohorts (total n=273 children aged 4-16 years; n=107 adults). Strong, adult-like LH lateralization (in

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeuroscience

Accelerated transcranial magnetic stimulation for psychological distress in advanced cancer: A phase 2a feasibility and preliminary efficacy clinical trial

James Downar, James Downar, Julie Lapenskie et al. · 2024 · Palliative Medicine

Background: Psychological and existential suffering affects many people with advanced illness, and current therapeutic options have limited effectiveness. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a safe and effective therapy…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

The Effects of Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs on Cardiovascular Risk in Inflammatory Joint Diseases: Current Evidence and Uncertainties

Olena Garmish, Svitlana Smiyan, Fedir Hladkykh et al. · 2025 · Vascular Health and Risk Management

Patients with inflammatory joint diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis, have an elevated risk of cardiovascular complications due to systemic inflammation, immune-mediated endothelial…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeuroscience

Neuroinflammation in Schizophrenia: An Overview of Evidence and Implications for Pathophysiology

Evgeny A. Ermakov, Irina A. Mednova, Anastasiia S. Boiko et al. · 2025 · Journal of Integrative Neuroscience

Neuroinflammation, meaning an inflammatory process primarily occurring within the central nervous system (CNS), is thought to be associated with the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia (SC), although existing evidence is sometimes contradictory. This review critically summarizes the existing data on neuroinflammation and possible neuroinflammatory mechanisms in the pathogenesis of SC. Despite heterogeneity and inconsistency, the existing evidence indicates dysregulation of inflammatory genes and infiltration of the CNS parenchyma by immune cells, disturbances in the b

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Negative / Null Result ReportMedicine

Different organ-specific response to nivolumab to determine the survival outcome of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (aHCC).

Han Sang Kim, Jung Yong Hong, Jaekyung Cheon et al. · 2020 · Journal of Clinical Oncology

4584 Background: Previously, two phase III clinical trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) failed to meet their primary endpoints, leading to doubts regarding the clinical activity of ICI monotherapy in patients with aHCC. Here, we…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessEconomics, Econometrics and Finance

What Is the Cost of Privatization for Workers?

Martin Olsson, Joacim Tå̊g · 2025 · The Journal of Finance

ABSTRACT Privatization of state‐owned enterprises is on the agenda across the globe. Using Swedish data covering two decades, we show that productivity gains and headcount reductions are associated with economic costs for incumbent…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics and Astronomy

X-Ray Polarization of the Magnetar 1E 1841−045

R. J. Stewart, George Younes, A. K. Harding et al. · 2025 · The Astrophysical Journal Letters

Abstract We report on IXPE and NuSTAR observations beginning 40 days after the 2024 outburst onset of magnetar 1E 1841−045, marking the first IXPE observation of a magnetar in an enhanced state. Our spectropolarimetric analysis indicates that both a blackbody (BB) plus double power-law (PL) and a double blackbody plus power-law spectral model fit the phase-averaged intensity data well, with a hard PL tail (Γ = 1.19 and 1.35, respectively) dominating above ≈5 keV. For the former model, we find the soft PL (the dominant component at soft energies) exhibits a polarization degree (PD) of ≈30% whil

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Impact of Preexisting Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 6 NS3, NS5A, and NS5B Polymorphisms on theIn VitroPotency of Direct-Acting Antiviral Agents

Fiona McPhee, Joseph Ueland, Vincent Vellucci et al. · 2019 · Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

[tested DAAs] of >5,000 nM) and were detected in evaluated GT-6b and -6f sequences. NS5A-L28A-R30A, observed in GT-6r, did not replicate. In conclusion, HCV GT-6b, GT-6f, and GT-6r sequences harbored highly resistant RASs to all evaluated…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessSocial Sciences

Efficacy of an appropriate point-of-use water treatment intervention for low-income communities in India utilizing Moringa oleifera, sari-cloth filtration and solar UV disinfection

Syed Imran Ali, Morgan C. MacDonald, J. Jincy et al. · 2011 · Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development

This study investigated the efficacy of a POU water treatment system featuring sari-cloth filtration and/or Moringa oleifera coagulation as pre-treatments for solar disinfection (SODIS). Surface water from a peri-urban slum in Chennai,…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessArts and Humanities

There’s More to the Story: Both Individual and Collective Policy Narratives Can Increase Support for Community-Level Action

Chris Skurka, Jeff Niederdeppe, Liana B. Winett · 2020 · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals)

Narratives can convey the need or community-level action to address social problems. Yet narratives often tell stories about specific individuals rather than the broader collectives these problems affect. Some theorists argue that individualizing collective problems inhibits audiences from recognizing upstream causes and solutions. This study tested how narrative individualization (whether a story focuses on an individual case or a larger collective) might produce trade-offs when mobilizing support for community-level policies to address childhood obesity. We also investigated whether narrativ

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessEarth and Planetary Sciences

Investigating the quadrupedal abilities of Scutellosaurus lawleri and its implications for locomotor behavior evolution among dinosaurs

Lilian Anderson, Charlotte Brassey, Stuart Pond et al. · 2023 · The Anatomical Record

A reversion to secondary quadrupedality is exceptionally rare in nature, yet the convergent re-evolution of this locomotor style occurred at least four separate times within Dinosauria. Facultative quadrupedality, an intermediate state between obligate bipedality and obligate quadrupedality, may have been an important transitional step in this locomotor shift, and is proposed for a range of basal ornithischians and sauropodomorphs. Advances in virtual biomechanical modeling and simulation have allowed for the investigation of limb anatomy and function in a range of extinct dinosaurian species,

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Prostate volume does not provide additional predictive value to prostate health index for prostate cancer or clinically significant prostate cancer: results from a multicenter study in China

Danfeng Xu, Rong Na, Da Huang et al. · 2020 · Asian Journal of Andrology

To evaluate whether prostate volume (PV) would provide additional predictive utility to the prostate health index (phi) for predicting prostate cancer (PCa) or clinically significant prostate cancer, we designed a prospective,…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Nonopioid vs opioid analgesics after impacted third-molar extractions

Cecile A. Feldman, Janine Fredericks-Younger, Paul J. Desjardins et al. · 2025 · The Journal of the American Dental Association

BACKGROUND: Opioids are still being prescribed to manage acute postsurgical pain. Unnecessary opioid prescriptions can lead to addiction and death, as unused tablets are easily diverted. METHODS: To determine whether combination nonopioid analgesics are at least as good as opioid analgesics, a multisite, double-blind, randomized, stratified, noninferiority comparative effectiveness trial was conducted, which examined patient-centered outcomes after impacted mandibular third-molar extraction surgery. Participants were randomized to receive 5 mg of hydrocodone with 300 mg of acetaminophen (opioi

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Negative / Null Result Report

WHERE DOES AVICENNA DEMONSTRATE THE EXISTENCE OF GOD?

Daniel D. De Haan · 2016 · Arabic Sciences and Philosophy

Abstract This study examines a number of different answers to the question: where does Avicenna demonstrate the existence of God within the Metaphysics of the Healing ? Many interpreters have contended that there is an argument for God's…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessAgricultural and Biological Sciences

Harnessing genotype-by-environment interaction to determine adaptability of advanced cowpea lines to multiple environments in Uganda

Abiriga Francis, O. Ongom Patrick, Rubaihayo Patrick et al. · 2020 · Journal of Plant Breeding and Crop Science

This study was conducted to determine the yield stability of advanced cowpea lines in diverse agro-ecological zones of Uganda in order to facilitate documentation requirements for national performance trials (NPT). Thirty cowpea genotypes were evaluated against six checks in three localities, over three growing seasons, making a total of 9 unique environments. The trials were laid in a 6x6 alpha lattice design with three replications and grain yield was the principal trait measured. Single-site and multi-location data were summarized using analysis of variance. Further analysis of stability wa

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