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Browse the failure-mode index

21,247 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.

Replication FailureOpen accessMedicine

A Phase II Study of Potentiation of Pembrolizumab with Binimetinib and Bevacizumab in Refractory Microsatellite-Stable Colorectal Cancer

Robert W. Lentz, Tyler J. Friedrich, Patrick J. Blatchford et al. · 2024 · Clinical Cancer Research

PURPOSE: In this single-institution phase II investigator-initiated study, we assessed the ability of MAPK and VEGF pathway blockade to overcome resistance to immunotherapy in microsatellite-stable metastatic colorectal cancer (MSS mCRC).…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessEngineering

A Hybrid YOLO and Segment Anything Model Pipeline for Multi-Damage Segmentation in UAV Inspection Imagery

Rafael Cabral, Ricardo Santos, José A.F.O. Correia et al. · 2025 · Sensors

The automated inspection of civil infrastructure with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is hampered by the challenge of accurately segmenting multi-damage in high-resolution imagery. While foundational models like the Segment Anything Model (SAM) offer data-efficient segmentation, their effectiveness is constrained by prompting strategies, especially for geometrically complex defects. This paper presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of deep learning strategies to identify an optimal deep learning pipeline for segmenting cracks, efflorescences, and exposed rebars. It systematically evalua

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Human cancer genomes harbor the mutational signature of tobacco-specific nitrosamines NNN and NNK

Michael Korenjak, Nuri A. Temiz, Stéphane Keïta et al. · 2026 · Genome Medicine

BACKGROUND: Tobacco use is linked to multiple cancer types and a quarter of cancer deaths. Tobacco smoke contains numerous mutagenic chemicals such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), however, the mutagenicity of many chemicals in…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Virtual reality training to improve socio‐emotional functioning in adolescents with developmental language disorders: A multiple baseline effectiveness study

E. G. J. M. Arts, Bram Orobio de Castro, Ellen Luteijn et al. · 2024 · Social Development

Abstract This study investigated whether interactive virtual reality (VR) training of social and emotional abilities (InterAction) improves socio‐emotional functioning of youth with developmental language disorders (DLD). To this end we conducted a multiple baseline intervention study, comparing participants’ social abilities during a baseline phase with their changes in abilities during the intervention and posttest phase. The training group consisted of 29 adolescents ( 20 boys, 9 girls ) with DLD from the Netherlands. The training consisted of nine, weekly (45–50 min) individual sessions wi

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics and Astronomy

REBELS-IFU: evidence for metal-rich massive galaxies at z ∼ 6−8

Lucie E. Rowland, Mauro Stefanon, R. J. Bouwens et al. · 2026 · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

ABSTRACT Metallicity is a crucial tracer of galaxy evolution, providing insights into gas accretion, star formation, and feedback. At high redshift, these processes reveal how early galaxies assembled and enriched their interstellar medium. In this work, we present rest-frame optical spectroscopy of 12 massive ($\log (M_*/\mathrm{{\rm M}_{\odot }})>9$) galaxies at $z\sim 6$–8 from the Reionization Era Bright Emission Line Survey (REBELS) Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) large program, observed with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRSpec integral field unit spec

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessEngineering

An App Call a Day Keeps the Patient Away? Substitution of Online and In-Person Doctor Consultations Among Young Adults

Lina Maria Ellegård, Gustav Kjellsson, Linn Mattisson · 2026 · The Economic Journal

Abstract The emergence of markets for on-demand online physician consultations —direct-to-consumer telemedicine (DCT) — is currently transforming many healthcare settings. DCT may be a cost-effective substitute for in-person consultations, but the convenience of seeking DCT may increase the demand for the service and consequently also the costs for health insurers. To causally assess the degree to which DCT consultations substitute for in-person primary care consultations, we exploit exogenous changes in patient fees in a fuzzy difference-in-discontinuities analysis of young adults in Sweden.

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics and Astronomy

The Most Luminous Known Fast Blue Optical Transient AT 2024wpp: Unprecedented Evolution and Properties in the X-Rays and Radio

A. J. Nayana, R. Margutti, Eli Wiston et al. · 2025 · The Astrophysical Journal Letters

Abstract We present X-ray (0.3–79 keV) and radio (0.25–203 GHz) observations of the most luminous fast blue optical transient (LFBOT) AT 2024wpp at z = 0.0868, spanning 2–280 days after first light. AT 2024wpp shows luminous ( L X ≈ 1.5 × 10 43 erg s −1 ), variable X-ray emission with a Compton hump peaking at δt ≈ 50 days. The X-ray spectrum evolves from a soft ( F ν ∝ ν −0.6 ) to an extremely hard state ( F ν ∝ ν 1.26 ) accompanied by a rebrightening at δt ≈ 50 days. The X-ray emission properties favor an embedded high-energy source shining through asymmetric expanding ejecta. We detect radi

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Non-invasive temporal interference stimulation of the hippocampus suppresses epileptic biomarkers in patients with Epilepsy: biophysical differences between kilohertz and amplitude modulated stimulation

Florian Missey, Emma Acerbo, Adam S. Dickey et al. · 2025 · Brain stimulation

INTRODUCTION: Medication-refractory focal epilepsy creates a significant clinical challenge, with approximately 30 % of patients deemed ineligible for surgery due to involvement of eloquent cortical regions within the epileptogenic network. For these patients, electrical neuromodulation represents a promising alternative therapy. We investigated the potential of non-invasive temporal interference (TI) electrical stimulation in reducing epileptic biomarkers in patients with mesiotemporal epilepsy (MTLE) MATERIAL AND METHOD: Thirteen patients implanted with stereoelectroencephalography (sEEG) de

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Performance and challenges of malaria rapid diagnostic tests in endemic regions of Africa

Fiyinfoluwa Demilade Ojeniyi, Adeola Oluwakemi Ayoola, Olajumoke Ibitoye et al. · 2025 · Scientific Reports

Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have revolutionized malaria diagnosis, playing a crucial role in improving timely treatment and supporting surveillance efforts, especially in resource-limited settings. However, the performance of RDTs can…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessBusiness, Management and Accounting

The Impact of Macroeconomic Factors on the Firm’s Performance—Empirical Analysis from Türkiye

Orkhan Ibrahimov, László Vancsura, Anett Parádi-Dolgos · 2025 · Economies

Measuring financial performance is pivotal not only for assessing a firm’s current health but also for informing strategic decisions that shape its long-term trajectory. This study investigates how macroeconomic volatility affects the firm profitability across five major sectors in Türkiye—industrial manufacturing, food, beverage and tobacco, chemicals and plastics, technology, and energy—during the turbulent period from 2016 to 2023. Using return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) as performance indicators, we apply panel data regression to test the impact of inflation, interest rates

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeuroscience

Regulation of LEAP2 by insulin and glucagon in mice and humans

Valdemar Brimnes Ingemann Johansen, Anna Katrina Jógvansdóttir Gradel, Stephanie Kjærulff Holm et al. · 2025 · Cell Reports Medicine

Liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide 2 (LEAP2) is an endogenous antagonist and inverse agonist of the ghrelin receptor, countering ghrelin's effects on cell signaling and feeding. However, despite an emerging interest in LEAP2's…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

Comparative analysis of supervised and self-supervised learning with small and imbalanced medical imaging datasets

Andrea Espis, Chiara Marzi, Stefano Diciotti · 2025 · Scientific Reports

Self-supervised learning (SSL) in computer vision has shown its potential to reduce reliance on labeled data. However, most studies focused on balanced, large, broad-domain datasets like ImageNet, whereas, in real-world medical applications, dataset size is typically limited. This study compares the performance of SSL versus supervised learning (SL) on small, imbalanced medical imaging datasets. We experimented with four binary classification tasks: age prediction and diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease from brain magnetic resonance imaging scans, pneumonia from chest radiograms, and retinal dise

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics and Astronomy

GRB 250702B: discovery of a gamma-ray burst from a black hole falling into a star

Eliza Neights, Eric Burns, Chris L. Fryer et al. · 2025 · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

ABSTRACT Gamma-ray bursts are the most luminous electromagnetic events in the Universe. Their prompt gamma-ray emission has typical durations between a fraction of a second and several minutes. A rare subset of these events have durations in excess of a thousand seconds, referred to as ultra-long gamma-ray bursts. Here, we report the discovery of the longest gamma-ray burst ever seen with a $\sim$25 000 s gamma-ray duration, GRB 250702B, and characterize this event using data from four instruments in the InterPlanetary Network and the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image. We find a hard spectrum, su

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Maximizing the Utility of Alzheimer's Disease Trial Data: Sharing of Baseline A4 and LEARN Data

Gustavo Jimenez‐Maggiora, Arndt‐Peter Schulz, Michael Donohue et al. · 2024 · The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer s Disease

BACKGROUND: The Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer's Disease (A4) and Longitudinal Evaluation of Amyloid Risk and Neurodegeneration (LEARN) studies were conducted between 2014 and 2023, with enrollment completed in 2017 and final study results reported in 2023. The study screening process involved the collection of initial clinical, cognitive, neuroimaging, and genetic measures to determine eligibility. Once randomized, enrolled participants were assessed every four weeks over a 4.5-year follow-up period during which longitudinal clinical, cognitive, and neuroimaging measures wer

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Artificial Intelligence in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Endoscopy

Sabrina Gloria Giulia Testoni, Guglielmo Albertini Petroni, Maria Laura Annunziata et al. · 2025 · Diagnostics

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), comprising Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), are chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract with still-elusive etiopathogeneses and an increasing prevalence worldwide. Despite the growing availability of more advanced therapies in the last two decades, there are still a number of unmet needs. For example, the achievement of mucosal healing has been widely demonstrated as a prognostic marker for better outcomes and a reduced risk of dysplasia and cancer; however, the accuracy of endoscopy is crucial for bo

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Replication FailureOpen accessSocial Sciences

Integrated Motivational Strategies for Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators with Substance Use: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Cristina Expósito-Álvarez, Manuel Roldán-Pardo, Gail Gilchrist et al. · 2024 · Psychosocial Intervention

Objective: Intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators with alcohol and/or other drug use problems (ADUPs) have been identified as one of the main high-risk and highly resistant groups of perpetrators requiring special attention in…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessBusiness, Management and Accounting

Family Firm Leader’s Socioemotional Wealth Importance Perceptions: The Influence of Negative Forms of Conflict

Özgür Atılgan, Franz W. Kellermanns · 2025 · Family Business Review

We investigate how negative types of intra-family conflicts (i.e., status conflict and relationship conflict) influence the family firm leader’s socioemotional wealth importance (SEWi). Based on 159 matched responses from family firm…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Altitude hypoxia and hypoxemia: pathogenesis and management

Chunmei Cai, Guohua Ni, Lei Chen et al. · 2026 · Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy

At high altitudes, which typically exceed 2500 m, approximately 80 million people reside permanently, with over a million visitors annually. The primary effect of high altitude is hypobaric hypoxia, which leads to decreased oxygen availability and a cascade of physiological responses. However, inadequate or excessive responses can lead to malacclimatization, resulting in hypoxemia and various high-altitude illnesses, including acute mountain sickness (AMS), high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE), high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), chronic mountain sickness (CMS), and high-altitude pulmonary hy

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Gut‒heart axis: emerging therapies targeting trimethylamine N-oxide production

Efrain Ricardo Torres, Jennifer Wilcox, W. H. Wilson Tang · 2025 · Gut Microbes

Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) has garnered considerable attention because of its role in the pathophysiology and pathogenesis of various disorders, particularly heart and kidney disease. Gut microbes produce trimethylamine (TMA) moieties from common dietary precursors, such as choline or carnitine, which are subsequently metabolized by the liver into TMAO. Circulating TMAO then exerts various effects, influencing dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome, endothelial dysfunction, and inflammation, as well as other detrimental processes. Many existing medications have been shown to decrease TMAO levels

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessAgricultural and Biological Sciences

Mycotoxins and the Intestinal Epithelium: From Barrier Injury to Stem Cell Dysfunction

Wenying Huo, Yingying Qiao, Xiangru He et al. · 2025 · Toxins

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi that contaminate agricultural commodities, posing risks to food safety, animal productivity, and human health. The gastrointestinal tract is the first and most critical site of exposure, where the intestinal epithelium functions as both a physical and immunological barrier against luminal toxins and pathogens. While extensive research has demonstrated that mycotoxins disrupt epithelial integrity through tight junction impairment, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammation, their effects on the intestinal stem cell (ISC

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Anti-inflammatory agents for the management of COPD - Quo Vadis?

Agamemnon Bakakos, Zoi Sotiropoulou, Nektarios Anagnostopoulos et al. · 2025 · Respiratory Medicine

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality around the globe. Its main characteristics are persistent respiratory symptoms and progressive airflow limitation, both of which are driven by chronic inflammation. Despite the use of maximum bronchodilation and in selected patients inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), current therapies neither halt disease progression nor prevent exacerbations and loss of lung function. Recent research has focused on developing novel anti-inflammatory agents targeting specific pathways implicated in COPD pathogenesis, ai

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessEngineering

Integrated physics and magnet design for the ST-E1 fusion power plant

E. Maartensson, N. Welch, M. Scarpari et al. · 2026 · Nuclear Fusion

Abstract ST-E1 is Tokamak Energy’s commercially competitive fusion power plant design featuring a lifetime high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet cage, which has completed its pre-concept design stage. A central challenge at the pre-concept stage is the need to iteratively and consistently integrate the development of the magnet cage, core plasma physics, and power-exhaust systems, while avoiding serial design loops and late discovery of infeasible operating scenarios. Accurate representation of inductive current drive is particularly critical, as it tightly couples magnetic equilibria,

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Yuko Shimizu‐Motohashi · 2025 · Brain and Development

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked neuromuscular disorder caused by variants of the DMD that leads to progressive muscle degeneration. Recent advances in gene therapy have opened new therapeutic avenues, particularly through the use of adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated micro-dystrophin delivery. Delandistrogene moxeparvovec, the first FDA-approved gene therapy for DMD, has demonstrated transgene expression and potential functional improvement in early phase trials, although its long-term efficacy, durability, and safety remain unconfirmed. Immune-mediated toxicities including

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Replication FailureOpen accessMedicine

Once-weekly semaglutide versus placebo in patients with alcohol use disorder and comorbid obesity: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Mette Kruse Klausen, Signe Justesen, Julie Niemann Pedersen et al. · 2026 · The Lancet

BACKGROUND: Alcohol use disorder accounts for 5% of deaths worldwide annually, and there is an urgent need for new therapeutic interventions. Preclinical and initial human studies indicate that the GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide might reduce alcohol drinking. This study evaluated the efficacy of semaglutide once-weekly in treatment-seeking patients with alcohol use disorder and comorbid obesity. METHODS: In a 26-week, single-centre, randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial, treatment-seeking participants with moderate to severe alcohol use disorder and comorbid obesity were ass

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Genomics of Neotropical biodiversity indicators: Two butterfly radiations with rampant chromosomal rearrangements and hybridization

Eva S. M. van der Heijden, Karin Näsvall, Fernando Seixas et al. · 2025 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

A central question in evolutionary biology is what drives the diversification of lineages. Rapid, recent radiations are ideal systems for this question because they still show key morphological and ecological adaptations associated with speciation. While most research on recent radiations focuses on those occurring in insular environments, less attention has been given to continental radiations with complex species interactions. Here, we study the drivers of continental radiations of Melinaea and Mechanitis butterflies (Nymphalidae: Ithomiini), which have rapidly radiated in the continental Ne

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