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Browse the failure-mode index

21,707 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 accessNeurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry

Hebbian Control of Fixations in a Dyslexic Reader: A Case Report

Albert Le Floch, Guy Ropars · 2023 · Brain Sciences

When reading, dyslexic readers exhibit more and longer fixations than normal readers. However, there is no significant difference when dyslexic and control readers perform only visual tasks on a string of letters, showing the importance of cognitive processes in reading. This linguistic and cognitive processing requirement in reading is often perturbed for dyslexic readers by perceived additional letters and word mirror images superposed on the primary images on the primary cortex, inducing internal visual crowding. Here, we show that while for a normal reader, the number and the duration of f

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessElementary particle physics

Avoiding Bias in Measurements of Fundamental Constants from High Resolution Quasar Spectra

John K. Webb, Chung-Chi Lee, Dinko Milaković · 2022 · Universe

Recent advances in spectroscopic instrumentation and calibration methods dramatically improve the quality of quasar spectra. Supercomputer calculations show that, at high spectral resolution, procedures used in some previous analyses of spacetime variations of fundamental constants are likely to generate spurious measurements, biased systematically towards a null result. Developments in analysis methods are also summarised and a prescription given for the analysis of new and forthcoming data.

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Ptbp1 is not required for retinal neurogenesis and cell fate specification

Haley Appel, Rogger P Carmen-Orozco, Clayton P Santiago et al. · 2025 · eLife

The RNA-binding protein Ptbp1 has been proposed as a master regulator of neuronal fate, repressing neurogenesis through its effects on alternative splicing and miRNA maturation. While prior studies using RNA interference suggested that Ptbp1 loss promotes neurogenesis, recent genetic studies have failed to replicate glia-to-neuron conversion following Ptbp1 loss of function. To evaluate the role of Ptbp1 in developmental neurogenesis in vivo, we conditionally disrupted Ptbp1 in mouse retinal progenitors. Ptbp1 was robustly expressed in both retinal progenitors and Müller glia but absent from p

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessSocial Sciences

The unconscious thought advantage: Further replication failures from a search for confirmatory evidence

Mark Nieuwenstein, Hedderik van Rijn · 2012 · Judgment and Decision Making

According to the deliberation without attention (DWA) hypothesis, people facing a difficult choice will make a better decision after a period of distraction than after an equally long period of conscious deliberation, an effect referred to as the unconscious thought advantage (UTA). The status of the DWA hypothesis is controversial, as many studies have tried but failed to replicate the UTA. Here, we report a series of experiments that sought to identify the conditions under which the UTA can be replicated. Our starting point was a recent meta-analysis that identified the conditions under whic

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Born to fail: flaws in replication design produce intended results

Abraham D. Flaxman, Riley Hazard, Ian Riley et al. · 2020 · BMC Medicine

Abstract We recently published in BMC Medicine an evaluation of the comparative diagnostic performance of InSilicoVA, a software to map the underlying causes of death from verbal autopsy interviews. The developers of this software claim to have failed to replicate our results and appear to have also failed to locate our replication archive for this work. In this Correspondence, we provide feedback on how this might have been done more usefully and offer some suggestions to improve future attempts at reproducible research. We also offer an alternative interpretation of the results presented by

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessSocial Sciences

Good luck, bad luck, and ambiguity aversion

Briony D. Pulford, Poonam Gill · 2014 · Judgment and Decision Making

We report a series of experiments investigating the influence of feeling lucky or unlucky on people’s choice of known-risk or ambiguous options using the traditional Ellsberg Urns decision-making task. We induced a state of feeling lucky or unlucky in subjects by using a rigged wheel-of-fortune game, which just missed either the bankrupt or the jackpot outcome. In the first experiment a large reversal of the usual ambiguity aversion effect was shown, indicating that feeling lucky made subjects significantly more ambiguity seeking than usual. However, this effect failed to replicate in five ref

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry

Not so different after all? An event-related potential study on item and source memory for object-scene pairs in German and Chinese young adults

Michael Weigl, Qi Shao, Qi Shao et al. · 2023 · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

In recent years, several cross-cultural studies reported that Westerners focus more on central aspects of a scene (e.g., an object) relative to peripheral aspects (e.g., the background), whereas Easterners more evenly allocate attention to central and peripheral aspects. In memory tasks, Easterners exhibit worse recognition for the central object when peripheral aspects are changed, whereas Westerners are less affected by peripheral changes. However, most of these studies rely on hit rates without correcting for response bias, whereas studies accounting for response bias failed to replicate cu

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessLanguage and Literature

Words can interfere with perception at their associated locations: the role of orthography in spatial interference

Elisa Scerrati, Zachary Estes · 2025 · Language and Cognition

The spatial interference effect, whereby words with implicit spatial associations (e.g., ‘bird’) hinder identification of unrelated visual targets (e.g., a square) at the associated locations (i.e., at the top of a display), has been demonstrated many times in English, although it has failed to replicate several times in Italian. The current study tested whether the replication failures in Italian may be due to insufficient semantic processing of the words. Indeed, while languages with highly inconsistent pronunciations, such as English, are more likely to involve semantic processing during wo

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPharmacy and materia medica

Formulation, Stability and Bioequivalency Study of Prepared Salbutamol Sulphate Nebules .

Bazigha K. Al –Temimy, Alaa A. Abdul –Rasool · 2017 · Iraqi Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

ABSTRACT: Salbutamol sulphate nebules is considered as the most rapid effective route of administration for treatment of acute attacks of asthma . This study was carried out to formulate a stable formula of salbutamol nebules containing 0.1% (2.5mg / 2.5ml) of the active ingredient in a buffered solution . Stability study in different buffers at pH 3 showed that the longest shelf life was equal to 3.5 years for formula F .In addition the bioequivalency of this formula incomparison to ventolin nebules was measured and it was equal to (± 5.2) %. Also it was found that there was no significant d

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry

Perception of stroke symptoms and utilization of emergency medical services

Maximiliano A. Hawkes, Mauricio F. Farez, Ismael L. Calandri et al. · Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria

ABSTRACT Lack of stroke awareness and slow activation of emergency medical services (EMS) are frequently reported reasons for delayed arrival to the hospital. We evaluated these variables in our population. Methods Review of hospital records and structured telephone interviews of 100 consecutive stroke patients. Forward stepwise logistic regression was used for the statistical analysis. Results Seventy patients (75%) arrived at the hospital 4.5 hours after stroke symptoms onset. The use of EMS did not improve arrival times. Most patients who recognized their symptoms did not use EMS (p < 0.02)

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Negative / Null Result ReportMedicine

Influence of bone marrow lesions in the intercondylar eminence of tibia on postoperative outcomes after medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty -a pilot study.

Suda Y, Ishida K, Shibanuma N et al. · 2026 · BMC musculoskeletal disorders

Background Previously, it was reported that preoperative medial tibial bone marrow lesions (BMLs) were not associated with worse postoperative outcomes after medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA). However, the effect of BMLs in…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens

Effect of perioperative aspirin continuation on bleeding after pneumonectomy

Qirui Chen, Yan Liu, Yi Liu et al. · 2023 · Thoracic Cancer

Abstract Background To investigate the effect of continuous oral aspirin in perioperative period on bleeding in pneumonectomy. Methods A total of 170 patients who underwent pneumonectomy in our hospital from March 2021 to March 2022 were selected as the study objects. All patients took oral aspirin before surgery and did not take other antiplatelet agent or anticoagulants at the same time. The continuation group included 85 cases and continued to take aspirin 100 mg/day during the perioperative period, and the interruption group included 85 cases who stopped aspirin for 7 days before surgery a

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry

Investigating the Blood Microbiome in Parkinson's Disease, Schizophrenia, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

C. Rust, D. Tonge, L. L. van denHeuvel et al. · 2025 · Brain and Behavior

ABSTRACT Introduction Recent studies have challenged the idea of sterile blood, suggesting the presence of a blood microbiome. The detection of microbial nucleic acids in blood is thought to reflect the status of distant microbial niches, including the gut. However, the origins and viability of these microbes remain debated. In this study, blood microbiome signatures in Parkinson's disease (PD), schizophrenia (SCZ), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were evaluated by extracting RNA‐sequencing (RNA‐seq) reads that did not map to the human genome. Furthermore, we investigated the correlat

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMining engineering. Metallurgy

Comparative Study for Selective Lithium Recovery via Chemical Transformations during Incineration and Dynamic Pyrolysis of EV Li-Ion Batteries

Srija Balachandran, Kerstin Forsberg, Tom Lemaître et al. · 2021 · Metals

Selective leaching of Li from spent LIBs thermally pretreated by pyrolysis and incineration between 400 and 700 °C for 30, 60, and 90 min followed by water leaching at high temperature and high L/S ratio was examined. During the thermal pretreatment Li 2 CO 3 and LiF were leached. Along with Li salts, AlF 3 was also found to be leached with an efficiency not higher than 3.5%. The time of thermal pretreatment did not have a significant effect on Li leaching efficiency. The leaching efficiency of Li was higher with a higher L/S ratio. At a higher leaching temperature (80 °C), the leaching of Li

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Antiviral therapy and outcomes of patients with pneumonia caused by influenza A pandemic (H1N1) virus.

Shi-gui Yang, Bin Cao, Li-rong Liang et al. · 2012 · PLoS ONE

BACKGROUND: There is limited data on the clinical outcome of patients with pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) pneumonia who received oseltamivir treatment, especially when the treatment was administered more than 48 hours after symptom onset. METHODS: During the pandemic in 2009, a cohort of pH1N1 influenza pneumonia was built in China, and their clinical information was collected systematically, and analyzed with Cox models. RESULTS: 920 adults and 541 children with pneumonia who didn't receive corticosteroids were analyzed. In-hospital mortality was higher in adults who did not receive antiviral therapy

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMicrobiology

VEGFA Isoforms as Pro-Angiogenic Therapeutics for Cerebrovascular Diseases

Amanda Louise White, Gregory Jaye Bix · 2023 · Biomolecules

Therapeutic angiogenesis has long been considered a viable treatment for vasculature disruptions, including cerebral vasculature diseases. One widely-discussed treatment method to increase angiogenesis is vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) A. In animal models, treatment with VEGFA proved beneficial, resulting in increased angiogenesis, increased neuronal density, and improved outcome. However, VEGFA administration in clinical trials has thus far failed to replicate the promising results seen in animal models. The lack of beneficial effects in humans and the difficulty in medicinal trans

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Replication FailureOpen accessInternal medicine

Genome-wide association study identifies single-nucleotide polymorphism in KCNB1 associated with left ventricular mass in humans: The HyperGEN Study

Kraemer Rachel, Claas Steven A, Devereux Richard B et al. · 2009 · BMC Medical Genetics

Abstract Background We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and validation study for left ventricular (LV) mass in the Family Blood Pressure Program – HyperGEN population. LV mass is a sensitive predictor of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in all genders, races, and ages. Polymorphisms of candidate genes in diverse pathways have been associated with LV mass. However, subsequent studies have often failed to replicate these associations. Genome-wide association studies have unprecedented power to identify potential genes with modest effects on left LV mass. We describe here a

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

A meta-epidemiological study on the reported treatment effect of pregabalin in neuropathic pain trials over time.

Emma T L Cheng, Mohammad Cheik-Hussein, Noelle Lin et al. · 2023 · PLoS ONE

Background Pregabalin is a drug used to treat neuropathic pain, and its use has increased substantially since 2007. Early trials found a strong treatment effect on pain for post-herpetic neuralgia and diabetic neuropathy. However more recent studies have failed to replicate these results. Methods This meta-epidemiological study aimed to assess change in the reported effectiveness of pregabalin in neuropathic pain trials over time, and if a change is present, determine any associated factors. Data sources We performed electronic searches for published trials in Medline, Embase and Cochrane Cent

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessAstrophysics

Baryogenesis in false vacuum

Yuta Hamada, Masatoshi Yamada · 2017 · European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields

Abstract The null result in the LHC may indicate that the standard model is not drastically modified up to very high scales, such as the GUT/string scale. Having this in the mind, we suggest a novel leptogenesis scenario realized in the false vacuum of the Higgs field. If the Higgs field develops a large vacuum expectation value in the early universe, a lepton number violating process is enhanced, which we use for baryogenesis. To demonstrate the scenario, several models are discussed. For example, we show that the observed baryon asymmetry is successfully generated in the standard model with

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessOptics. Light

Detecting the variance in the one-way light speed for linear motion

Alex Midasala · 2024 · Results in Optics

A viable solution to detect the one-way speed of light anisotropy in linear motion is by using an Isosceles triangle-shaped design for the experimental setup, from which two light pulses from both ends of one of the triangle’s sides are sent to the same clock upon the detection of the incident and the reflected pulse, thereby evading the need for synchronization. The relativistic effects are taken into account in the timing measurements by incorporating the Lorentz transformation equations of length contraction and time dilation, which produces a non-null result for the time difference of the

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessScience

Non-linear effects of stress on eyewitness memory

Milton Gering, Tayla Johnson, Colin Tredoux · 2023 · South African Journal of Science

The effect of stress on face identification is not yet clear, with recent experiments finding positive, negative and null results. Here we report the results of two experiments examining the effect of stress on eyewitness performance in line-up face recognition tasks. Both experiments use a stress manipulation and live mock crime paradigm to examine the relationship between stress at encoding and subsequent line-up performance. Experiment 1 replicated an experiment by Sauerland et al. (Behav Sci Law. 2016;34(4):580–594) which induced stress using the Maastricht Acute Stress Test. The replicati

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry

When and How to Interpret Null Results in NIBS: A Taxonomy Based on Prior Expectations and Experimental Design

Tom A. de Graaf, Tom A. de Graaf, Alexander T. Sack et al. · 2018 · Frontiers in Neuroscience

Experiments often challenge the null hypothesis that an intervention, for instance application of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS), has no effect on an outcome measure. In conventional statistics, a positive result rejects that hypothesis, but a null result is meaningless. Informally, however, researchers often do find null results meaningful to a greater or lesser extent. We present a model to guide interpretation of null results in NIBS research. Along a “gradient of surprise,” from Replication nulls through Exploration nulls to Hypothesized nulls, null results can be less or more surpr

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessAnimal culture

Effects of Artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) Leaf Meal and Vitamin E on Productive Performance, Intestinal Microflora and Morphology in Japanese Quail

Samadi F, Sahneh M · 2015 · Poultry Science Journal

A total of 240, one-day-old quail chicks (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were used to study the effects of Artichoke leaf meal (ALM) and vitamin E in diet on growth performance, ileal microbial populations and intestinal morphology in a 42-d trial. This experiment was performed as a completely randomized design with 4 replicates of 15 quails each, using a 4 × 2 factorial arrangement with diet and gender as the main effects. Four dietary treatments were formulated by addition of 2 levels (1.5 and 3 percent) of ALM and 300 mg/Kg vitamin E to the basal diet. Supplementing basal diet with ALM did not

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Null DatasetOpen accessMaterials of engineering and construction. Mechanics of materials

Aluminium trihydroxide in combination with ammonium polyphosphate as flame retardants for unsaturated polyester resin

· 2009 · eXPRESS Polymer Letters

The thermal and reaction to fire characteristics of a flame retardant unsaturated polyester (UP) ternary system are presented here. Thermal gravimetric analysis showed an improved thermal stability between 200–600°C with the addition of ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and aluminium trihydroxide (ATH) formulation. Cone calorimetry tests indicated that ATH is more efficient than calcium carbonate at delaying the ignition time, lowering the carbon monoxide yield and lowering the peak heat release (PHRR). However the addition of APP and ATH to the formulation failed to demonstrate any significant syn

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessDiseases of the circulatory (Cardiovascular) system

Patent Foramen Ovale and Stroke–Current Status

Oh Young Bang, Mi Ji Lee, Sookyung Ryoo et al. · 2015 · Journal of Stroke

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is growing in clinical interest because of a renewed focus on embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS), the PFO attributable fraction (the 10-point Risk of Paradoxical Embolism score), technical advances in PFO diagnosis, and the emergence of endovascular device closure as a treatment option. However, recent randomized controlled trials of the management of patients with ESUS and PFO failed to demonstrate the superiority of closure over medical treatment. The mechanisms of stroke other than paradoxical embolism may be important in patients with ESUS and PFO. This

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Abandoned HypothesisOpen accessPhilosophy (General)

A Study of the Possibility of a Science Associated with a Specific Worldview

Mostafa Taqavi · 2019 · Journal of Philosophical Investigations

There are two main sections in this paper. First, we will show that some of the chief 20th-century theories of science either have failed to demonstrate that value judgments do not influence the context of consolidation and determination of science or have accepted the role of value judgments in the context of consolidation and determination of science and theorized accordingly. For this purpose, the ideas of logical positivists, Willard Quine, Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, Imre Lakatos, Paul Feyerabend, and Roy Bhaskar on science are briefly reviewed. Finally, the validity of the following statem

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Failed Experiment ReportOpen accessMedical physics. Medical radiology. Nuclear medicine

A current review of dose-escalated radiotherapy in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Ma Li, Men Yu, Feng Lingling et al. · 2019 · Radiology and Oncology

The mainstay therapy for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer is concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Loco-regional recurrence constitutes the predominant failure patterns. Previous studies confirmed the relationship between increased biological equivalent doses and improved overall survival. However, the large randomized phase III study, RTOG 0617, failed to demonstrate the benefit of dose-escalation to 74 Gy compared with 60 Gy by simply increasing fraction numbers.

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Short NoteOpen accessMedical physics. Medical radiology. Nuclear medicine

Imaging of a rare disorder: macrodystrophia lipomatosa

Farhana Ebrahim Suleman, Margaret Kisansa · 2010 · South African Journal of Radiology

Macrodystrophia lipomatosa (MDL) is described as a rare, non-hereditary, congenital condition presenting with localized macrodactyly and a proliferation of mesenchymal elements. There is in particular a marked increase in fibroadipose tissue(1). We describe two cases presenting to our department in a six month period, with a history of disproportionately large limbs since birth. While our first case demonstrated all the typical features of MDL, our second case failed to demonstrate osseous gigantism although the other features of MDL were present. An extensive search of the literature failed t

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Failed Experiment ReportOpen accessMedicine

Postoperative drainage after pancreatoduodenectomy: a randomized controlled trial among patients with intermediate and low risks for pancreatic fistula-DRAIN1.

Wallon S, Williamsson C, Karlsson V et al. · 2026 · Trials

Background Routine use of surgical drains after abdominal operations has largely been abandoned over the past decades. Studies have failed to demonstrate benefits of routine drainage following liver, gallbladder, gastric, and colorectal…

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