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Browse the failure-mode index

21,681 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 accessBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Genome Scans for Transmission Ratio Distortion Regions in Mice

J. Casellas, Rodrigo Gularte‐Mérida, Charles R. Farber et al. · 2012 · Genetics

Transmission ratio distortion (TRD) is the departure from the expected genotypic frequencies under Mendelian inheritance. This departure can be due to multiple physiological mechanisms during gametogenesis, fertilization, fetal and…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeuroscience

Is musical engagement enough to keep the brain young?

Anna Maria Matziorinis, Christian Gaser, Stefan Koelsch · 2022 · Brain Structure and Function

Music-making and engagement in music-related activities have shown procognitive benefits for healthy and pathological populations, suggesting reductions in brain aging. A previous brain aging study, using Brain Age Gap Estimation (BrainAGE), showed that professional and amateur-musicians had younger appearing brains than non-musicians. Our study sought to replicate those findings and analyze if musical training or active musical engagement was necessary to produce an age-decelerating effect in a cohort of healthy individuals. We scanned 125 healthy controls and investigated if musician status,

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeuroscience

Evidence for contribution of common genetic variants within chromosome 8p21.2-8p21.1 to restricted and repetitive behaviors in autism spectrum disorders

Tao Yu, Hui Gao, Benjamin Ackerman et al. · 2016 · BMC Genomics

BACKGROUND: Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors (RRB), one of the core symptom categories for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), comprises heterogeneous groups of behaviors. Previous research indicates that there are two or more factors (subcategories) within the RRB domain. In an effort to identify common variants associated with RRB, we have carried out a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE) dataset (n = 1,335, all ASD probands of European ancestry) for each identified RRB subcategory, while allowing for comparisons of associated single nucleot

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Refined clinical scoring in comparative EAE studies does not enhance the chance to observe statistically significant differences

Silvia Tietz, Marcel Zwahlen, Neda Haghayegh Jahromi et al. · 2016 · European Journal of Immunology

Considering the 3R rules of animal experimentation, we asked if refined scoring of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in mice improves documentation of clinical EAE allowing to perform a more powerful statistical analysis.…

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Negative / Null Result ReportPhysics and Astronomy

Evidence for long range movement of Bi-2212 within the filament bundle on melting and its significant effect onJc

A. Malagoli, Fumitake Kametani, Jianyi Jiang et al. · 2011 · Superconductor Science and Technology

It is well known that the critical current density Jc of multifilamentary Bi-2212 wires tends to decline as the wire length increases, but the reasons for and the magnitude of this decline remain obscure and quantitatively unpredictable.…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessImmunology and Microbiology

The role of endothelial MERTK during the inflammatory response in lungs

Yitong Li, Erika S. Wittchen, Elizabeth Monaghan-Benson et al. · 2019 · PLoS ONE

As a key homeostasis regulator in mammals, the MERTK receptor tyrosine kinase is crucial for efferocytosis, a process that requires remodeling of the cell membrane and adjacent actin cytoskeleton. Membrane and cytoskeletal reorganization also occur in endothelial cells during inflammation, particularly during neutrophil transendothelial migration (TEM) and during changes in permeability. However, MERTK's function in endothelial cells remains unclear. This study evaluated the contribution of endothelial MERTK to neutrophil TEM and endothelial barrier function. In vitro experiments using primary

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeuroscience

Variable Neural Contributions to Explicit and Implicit Learning During Visuomotor Adaptation

Sook-Lei Liew, Tziporah Thompson, Joel Ramirez et al. · 2018 · Frontiers in Neuroscience

We routinely make fine motor adjustments to maintain optimal motor performance. These adaptations have been attributed to both implicit, error-based mechanisms, and explicit, strategy-based mechanisms. However, little is known about the neural basis of implicit vs. explicit learning. Here, we aimed to use anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to probe the relationship between different brain regions and learning mechanisms during a visuomotor adaptation task in humans. We hypothesized that anodal tDCS over the cerebellum (CB) should increase implicit learning while anodal tDCS

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Effects of adjunctive eslicarbazepine acetate on neurocognitive functioning in children with refractory focal-onset seizures

Sergiusz Jóźwiak, Pierangelo Veggiotti, J. Moreira et al. · 2018 · Epilepsy & Behavior

PURPOSE: This was a phase-II, randomized, double-blind (DB), placebo-controlled study aimed to evaluate neurocognitive effects of eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) as adjunctive therapy in pediatric patients with refractory focal-onset…

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Methods Dead-EndOpen accessMedicine

Establishing the Minimum Clinically Significant Difference (MCID) and the Patient Acceptable Symptom Score (PASS) for the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in Patients with Rotator Cuff Disease and Shoulder Prosthesis

Umile Giuseppe Longo, Rocco Papalia, Sergio De Salvatore et al. · 2023 · Journal of Clinical Medicine

Insufficiently treated shoulder pain may cause mental disturbances, including depression and anxiety. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) that aims to identify depression and anxiety in patients in nonpsychiatric wards. The aim of this study was to identify the minimum clinically important difference (MCID) and patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) scores for the HADS in a cohort of individuals with rotator cuff disease. Using the HADS, participants' degrees of anxiety and depression were assessed at inception and at their final asses

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Replication FailureOpen accessMedicine

Azithromycin therapy for prevention of chronic lung disease of prematurity (AZTEC): a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial

John Lowe, David Gillespie, Ali F. Aboklaish et al. · 2024 · The Lancet Respiratory Medicine

BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews have reported conflicting evidence on whether macrolide antibiotics reduce rates of chronic lung disease of prematurity (CLD) in at-risk preterm infants born at less than 30 weeks' gestation, including in those colonised with pulmonary Ureaplasma spp. Since an adequately powered trial has been lacking, we aimed to assess if the macrolide azithromycin improved survival without the development of physiologically defined moderate or severe CLD in preterm infants. METHODS: AZTEC was a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial conducted in 28 ter

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Negative / Null Result ReportEnvironmental Science

Size‐Selective Mortality of Steelhead during Freshwater and Marine Life Stages Related to Freshwater Growth in the Skagit River, Washington

Jamie Thompson, David A. Beauchamp · 2014 · Transactions of the American Fisheries Society

Abstract We evaluated freshwater growth and survival from juvenile (ages 0–3) to smolt (ages 1–5) and adult stages in wild steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss sampled in different precipitation zones of the Skagit River basin, Washington. Our…

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Negative / Null Result ReportMedicine

Significant differences in coeliac immunotoxicity of barley varieties

Isabel Comino, Ana Real, Javier Gil‐Humanes et al. · 2012 · Molecular Nutrition & Food Research

SCOPE: The only treatment available for coeliac disease (CD) is a strict diet in which the intake of wheat, barley, rye, or oats is avoided. Barley is a major cereal crop, grown mainly for its use in brewing, and it has high nutritional…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessSocial Sciences

No Significant Difference in Service Learninng Online

Sue Y. McGorry · 2012 · Online Learning

Institutions of higher education are realizing the importance of service learning initiatives in developing awareness of students’ civic responsibilities, leadership and management skills, and social responsibility. These skills and…

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Methods Dead-EndOpen accessEnvironmental Science

Digital Mapping of Soil Properties Using Ensemble Machine Learning Approaches in an Agricultural Lowland Area of Lombardy, Italy

Odunayo David Adeniyi, Alexander Brenning, Alice Bernini et al. · 2023 · Land

Sustainable agricultural landscape management needs reliable and accurate soil maps and updated geospatial soil information. Recently, machine learning (ML) models have commonly been used in digital soil mapping, together with limited data, for various types of landscapes. In this study, we tested linear and nonlinear ML models in predicting and mapping soil properties in an agricultural lowland landscape of Lombardy region, Italy. We further evaluated the ability of an ensemble learning model, based on a stacking approach, to predict the spatial variation of soil properties, such as sand, sil

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Distributional Learning of Lexical Tones: A Comparison of Attended vs. Unattended Listening

Jia Hoong Ong, Denis Burnham, Paola Escudero · 2015 · PLoS ONE

This study examines whether non-tone language listeners can acquire lexical tone categories distributionally and whether attention in the training phase modulates the effect of distributional learning. Native Australian English listeners were trained on a Thai lexical tone minimal pair and their performance was assessed using a discrimination task before and after training. During Training, participants either heard a Unimodal distribution that would induce a single central category, which should hinder their discrimination of that minimal pair, or a Bimodal distribution that would induce two

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Machine learning versus logistic regression for the prediction of complications after pancreatoduodenectomy

Erik W. Ingwersen, Wessel T. Stam, Bono J.V. Meijs et al. · 2023 · Surgery

BACKGROUND: Machine learning is increasingly advocated to develop prediction models for postoperative complications. It is, however, unclear if machine learning is superior to logistic regression when using structured clinical data. Postoperative pancreatic fistula and delayed gastric emptying are the two most common complications with the biggest impact on patient condition and length of hospital stay after pancreatoduodenectomy. This study aimed to compare the performance of machine learning and logistic regression in predicting pancreatic fistula and delayed gastric emptying after pancreato

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Negative / Null Result ReportMedicine

No Significant Association Between Genetic Variants in 7 Candidate Genes and Response to Methylphenidate Treatment in Adult Patients With ADHD

Verônica Contini, Marcelo M. Victor, Guilherme Pinto Bertuzzi et al. · 2012 · Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology

Results from pharmacogenetic investigations of methylphenidate (MPH) response in patients with ADHD are still inconsistent, especially among adults. This study investigates the role of genetic variants (SLC6A4, HTR1B, TPH2, DBH, DRD4,…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

The neuropsychological profile of professional action video game players

Julie Justine Benoit, Eugenie Roudaia, Taylor Johnson et al. · 2020 · PeerJ

In the past 20 years, there has been growing research interest in the association between video games and cognition. Although many studies have found that video game players are better than non-players in multiple cognitive domains, other studies failed to replicate these results. Until now, the vast majority of studies defined video game players based on the number of hours an individual spent playing video games, with relatively few studies focusing on video game expertise using performance criteria. In the current study, we sought to examine whether individuals who play video games at a pro

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessEnvironmental Science

Functional diversity of soil microbial communities increases with ecosystem development

Tord Ranheim Sveen, Maria Viketoft, Jan Bengtsson et al. · 2025 · Nature Communications

Land abandonment is the single largest process of land-use change in the Global North driving succession and afforestation at continental scales, but assessing its impacts on soil microbial communities remains a challenge. Here, we establish a nationwide successional gradient of paired grassland and forest sites to track developments in microbial structure and functioning following land abandonment and gradual land-use change to forests. We show that microbes generally respond through threshold dynamics, leading to increasing functional but decreasing taxonomic diversity. Succession also entai

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessEconomics, Econometrics and Finance

Assessing the Impact of Green Energy Transition, Technological Innovation, and Natural Resources on Load Capacity Factor in Algeria: Evidence from Dynamic Autoregressive Distributed Lag Simulations and Machine Learning Validation

Brahim Bergougui, Said Meziane · 2025 · Sustainability

Algeria’s resource-dependent economy faces significant challenges in balancing hydrocarbon reliance with environmental sustainability, yet existing research largely overlooks the comprehensive load capacity factor (LCF) metric in favor of traditional emissions analyses. This study examines the relationships between the LCF and key economic–environmental factors in Algeria from 1980 to 2023, including total natural resource rents, energy transition, technological innovation, GDP, primary energy consumption, and urbanization. Using ARDL and DARDL econometric approaches complemented by a kernel-b

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

The impaired response of nasal epithelial cells to microplastic stimulation in asthma and COPD

Magdalena Paplińska‐Goryca, Paulina Misiukiewicz‐Stępień, Monika Wróbel et al. · 2025 · Scientific Reports

Microplastic particles from the air are inhaled and accumulate in the lungs, potentially causing immunological reactions and airway tissue injury. This study aimed to evaluate the biological effects of polyamide fibres on nasal epithelium…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

NEWS 2 – too little evidence to implement?

Luke Hodgson, Jo Congleton, Richard Venn et al. · 2018 · Clinical Medicine

ABSTRACT The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) recently published the National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2), aiming to improve safety for patients with hypercapnic respiratory failure by suggesting a separate oxygen saturation (SpO2)…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMathematics

Learning data science in elementary school mathematics: a comparative curriculum analysis

Yook Kit Ow-Yeong, Ibrahim H. Yeter, Farhan Ali · 2023 · International Journal of STEM Education

Abstract Background Data literacy is increasingly important in today’s data-driven world. Students across many educational systems first formally learn about data in elementary school not as a separate subject but via the mathematics curriculum. This experience can create tensions in the priorities of learning and assessment given the presence of other foundational mathematics content domains such as numbers, algebra, measurement, and geometry. There is a need to study data literacy in comparison to these other content domains in elementary mathematics. To address this need, we developed a met

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