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Browse the failure-mode index

21,173 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 ReportEconomics, Econometrics and Finance

Housing Wealth and Consumption: A Micro Panel Study

Martin Browning, Mette Gørtz, Søren Leth‐Petersen · 2012 · The Economic Journal

There is strong evidence that house prices and consumption are synchronised. There is, however, disagreement over the causes of this link. This study examines if there is a wealth effect of house prices on consumption. Using a…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Significant differences in femoral torsion values depending on the CT measurement technique

Peter K. Kaiser, René El Attal, Mark Kammerer et al. · 2016 · Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery

INTRODUCTION: This study compared the feasibility of six different CT-based measurement techniques for establishing an indication for derotational osteotomy in the cases of patellar instability or femoral fracture. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CT scans of 52 single human cadaver femora were measured using six different torsion measurement techniques (described by Waidelich, Murphy, and Yoshioka on transverse images and Hernandez, Jarrett, and Yoshioka on oblique images). All measurements were performed by four observers twice to assess intraobserver and interobserver agreement. The intraclass correl

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Two Failures to Replicate High-Performance-Goal Priming Effects

Christine R. Harris, Noriko Coburn, Doug Rohrer et al. · 2013 · PLoS ONE

Bargh et al. (2001) reported two experiments in which people were exposed to words related to achievement (e.g., strive, attain) or to neutral words, and then performed a demanding cognitive task. Performance on the task was enhanced after exposure to the achievement related words. Bargh and colleagues concluded that better performance was due to the achievement words having activated a "high-performance goal". Because the paper has been cited well over 1100 times, an attempt to replicate its findings would seem warranted. Two direct replication attempts were performed. Results from the first

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

The relationship between well-being and commuting revisited: Does the choice of methodology matter?

Andy Dickerson, Arne Risa Hole, Luke Munford · 2014 · Regional Science and Urban Economics

This paper provides an assessment of a range of alternative estimators for fixed-effects ordered models in the context of estimating the relationship between subjective well-being and commuting behaviour. In contrast to previous papers in the literature we find no evidence that longer commutes are associated with lower levels of subjective well-being, in general. From a methodological point of view our results support earlier findings that linear and ordered fixed-effects models of life satisfaction give similar results. However, we argue that ordered models are more appropriate as they are th

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessSocial Sciences

Measuring Learning Effectiveness: A New Look at No-Significant-Difference Findings

Ernest H. Joy, Federico E. Garcia · 2019 · Online Learning

Researchers, instructional designers and consumers of ALNs must be cautious when interpreting results of media comparison studies. Much of the literature purports to have found no significant difference in learning effectiveness between technology-based and conventional delivery media. This research, though, is largely flawed. In this paper, we first outline the philosophical positions of the opposing sides of an intense debate in the literature as to whether delivery media alone influence learning outcomes. We then select at random several representative media comparison studies to illustrate

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Sleep Quality, Mental and Physical Health: A Differential Relationship

Violeta Clement‐Carbonell, Irene Portilla, María Rubio‐Aparicio et al. · 2021 · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

This study aimed to explore the association between sleep quality and its components and both dimensions of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a sample of young adults. The sample comprised 337 participants with a mean age of 19.6 y (SD = 2.22). Sleep quality and HRQoL were measured through the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the SF-12, respectively. Regression analyses were used to investigate the association between sleep quality and HRQoL. Our results confirm the significant association between sleep quality and both physical (p = 0.015; β = −0.138; R2 = 0.07) and mental (p < 0

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Negative / Null Result ReportHealth Professions

Evidence of collaboration, pooling of resources, learning and role blurring in interprofessional healthcare teams: a realist synthesis

Sarah Sims, Gillian Hewitt, Ruth Harris · 2014 · Journal of Interprofessional Care

Interprofessional teamwork has become an integral feature of healthcare delivery in a wide range of conditions and services in many countries. Many assumptions are made in healthcare literature and policy about how interprofessional teams…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Comparing the Performances of Apes (Gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes, Pongo pygmaeus) and Human Children (Homo sapiens) in the Floating Peanut Task

Daniel Hanus, Natacha Mendes, Claudio Tennie et al. · 2011 · PLoS ONE

Recently, Mendes et al. [1] described the use of a liquid tool (water) in captive orangutans. Here, we tested chimpanzees and gorillas for the first time with the same "floating peanut task." None of the subjects solved the task. In order to better understand the cognitive demands of the task, we further tested other populations of chimpanzees and orangutans with the variation of the peanut initially floating or not. Twenty percent of the chimpanzees but none of the orangutans were successful. Additional controls revealed that successful subjects added water only if it was necessary to obtain

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Replication FailureOpen accessComputer Science

Assessing the Effect of Visualizations on Bayesian Reasoning through Crowdsourcing

Luana Micallef, Pierre Dragicevic, Jean‐Daniel Fekete · 2012 · IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics

People have difficulty understanding statistical information and are unaware of their wrong judgments, particularly in Bayesian reasoning. Psychology studies suggest that the way Bayesian problems are represented can impact comprehension,…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessDecision Sciences

Quantifying the impact of weak, strong, and super ties in scientific careers

Alexander M. Petersen · 2015 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Scientists are frequently faced with the important decision to start or terminate a creative partnership. This process can be influenced by strategic motivations, as early career researchers are pursuers, whereas senior researchers are…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

The Role of cis Regulatory Evolution in Maize Domestication

Zachary H. Lemmon, Robert Bukowski, Qi Sun et al. · 2014 · PLoS Genetics

Gene expression differences between divergent lineages caused by modification of cis regulatory elements are thought to be important in evolution. We assayed genome-wide cis and trans regulatory differences between maize and its wild progenitor, teosinte, using deep RNA sequencing in F1 hybrid and parent inbred lines for three tissue types (ear, leaf and stem). Pervasive regulatory variation was observed with approximately 70% of ∼17,000 genes showing evidence of regulatory divergence between maize and teosinte. However, many fewer genes (1,079 genes) show consistent cis differences with all s

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Negative / Null Result ReportEnvironmental Science

The Environmental Impact of Poverty: Evidence from Firewood Collection in Rural Nepal

Jean‐Marie Baland, Pranab Bardhan, Sanghamitra Das et al. · 2010 · Economic Development and Cultural Change

We investigate determinants of household firewood collection in rural Nepal, using 1995-96 and 2002-3 World Bank Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) data. We incorporate village fixed effects, endogenous censoring, measurement error…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Advanced Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: Post Hoc Analysis of the ABC-01, -02, and -03 Clinical Trials

Ángela Lamarca, Paul J. Ross, Harpreet Wasan et al. · 2019 · JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute

BACKGROUND: The incidence of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) is increasing. The aim of the study was to provide reference survival data for patients with advanced iCCA treated with first-line cisplatin-gemcitabine chemotherapy (current standard of care). METHODS: Individual data from patients with iCCA recruited into the prospective, random assignment Advanced Biliary Tract Cancer (ABC)-01, -02, and -03 studies were retrieved. The prevalence and survival of liver-only iCCA was also assessed. Survival analysis was performed using univariate and multivariable Cox regression. All statistic

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessSocial Sciences

Smartphones distract parents from cultivating feelings of connection when spending time with their children

Kostadin Kushlev, Elizabeth W. Dunn · 2018 · Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

In the U.S., 95% of smartphone users admit to having used their smartphones during their latest social gathering. Although smartphones are designed to connect us with others, such smartphone use may create a source of distraction that…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

The effects of amount of home meditation practice in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy on hazard of relapse to depression in the Staying Well after Depression Trial

Catherine Crane, Rebecca Crane, Catrin Eames et al. · 2014 · Behaviour Research and Therapy

Few empirical studies have explored the associations between formal and informal mindfulness home practice and outcome in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). In this study ninety-nine participants randomised to MBCT in a multi-centre randomised controlled trial completed self-reported ratings of home practice over 7 treatment weeks. Recurrence of Major Depression was assessed immediately after treatment, and at 3, 6, 9, and 12-months post-treatment. Results identified a significant association between mean daily duration of formal home practice and outcome and additionally indicated th

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Predicting Outcome of Endovascular Treatment for Acute Ischemic Stroke: Potential Value of Machine Learning Algorithms

Hendrikus J. A. van Os, Lucas A. Ramos, Adam Hilbert et al. · 2018 · Frontiers in Neurology

Background: Endovascular treatment (EVT) is effective for stroke patients with a large vessel occlusion (LVO) of the anterior circulation. To further improve personalized stroke care, it is essential to accurately predict outcome after EVT. Machine learning might outperform classical prediction methods as it is capable of addressing complex interactions and non-linear relations between variables. Methods: We included patients from the Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial of Endovascular Treatment for Acute Ischemic Stroke in the Netherlands (MR CLEAN) Registry, an observational cohort of LVO

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics and Astronomy

Electrical Detection of the Spin Polarization Due to Charge Flow in the Surface State of the Topological Insulator Bi1.5Sb0.5Te1.7Se1.3

Yuichiro Ando, Takahiro Hamasaki, Takayuki Kurokawa et al. · 2014 · Nano Letters

We detected the spin polarization due to charge flow in the spin nondegenerate surface state of a three-dimensional topological insulator by means of an all-electrical method. The charge current in the bulk-insulating topological insulator…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessEnvironmental Science

Ambient Air Pollution and Depressive Symptoms in Older Adults: Results from the MOBILIZE Boston Study

Yi Wang, Melissa Eliot, Petros Koutrakis et al. · 2014 · Environmental Health Perspectives

BACKGROUND: Exposure to ambient air pollution, particularly from traffic, has been associated with adverse cognitive outcomes, but the association with depressive symptoms remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the association between exposure to ambient air and traffic pollution and the presence of depressive symptoms among 732 Boston-area adults ≥ 65 years of age (78.1 ± 5.5 years, mean ± SD). METHODS: We assessed depressive symptoms during home interviews using the Revised Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-R). We estimated residential distance to the nearest ma

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Negative / Null Result ReportComputer Science

Modelling long memory volatility in the Bitcoin market: Evidence of persistence and structural breaks

Elie Bouri, Luis A. Gil‐Alana, Rangan Gupta et al. · 2018 · International Journal of Finance & Economics

Abstract Motivated by the emergence of Bitcoin as a speculative financial investment, the purpose of this paper is to examine the persistence in the level and volatility of Bitcoin price, accounting for the impact of structural breaks.…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Experimental Treatment of Ebola Virus Disease with TKM-130803: A Single-Arm Phase 2 Clinical Trial

Jake Dunning, Foday Sahr, Amanda Rojek et al. · 2016 · PLoS Medicine

BACKGROUND: TKM-130803, a small interfering RNA lipid nanoparticle product, has been developed for the treatment of Ebola virus disease (EVD), but its efficacy and safety in humans has not been evaluated. METHODS AND FINDINGS: In this single-arm phase 2 trial, adults with laboratory-confirmed EVD received 0.3 mg/kg of TKM-130803 by intravenous infusion once daily for up to 7 d. On days when trial enrolment capacity was reached, patients were enrolled into a concurrent observational cohort. The primary outcome was survival to day 14 after admission, excluding patients who died within 48 h of ad

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Negative / Null Result ReportSocial Sciences

New Fathers?

Jennifer Hook, Christina Marie Wolfe · 2011 · Journal of Family Issues

We examine variation in employed fathers' time with children ages zero to 14, utilizing time use surveys from the United States (2003), Germany (2001), Norway (2000), and the United Kingdom (2000). We examine levels of father involvement…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Emergent dynamics of laboratory insect swarms

Douglas H. Kelley, Nicholas T. Ouellette · 2013 · Scientific Reports

Collective animal behaviour occurs at nearly every biological size scale, from single-celled organisms to the largest animals on earth. It has long been known that models with simple interaction rules can reproduce qualitative features of…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessSocial Sciences

Examining the consumption of radical content on YouTube

Homa Hosseinmardi, Amir Ghasemian, Aaron Clauset et al. · 2021 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Although it is under-studied relative to other social media platforms, YouTube is arguably the largest and most engaging online media consumption platform in the world. Recently, YouTube's scale has fueled concerns that YouTube users are…

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