e-ISSN: Pending

Browse the failure-mode index

19,798 real negative results, null findings, and replication failures · Negative / Null Result Report. 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 accessMathematics

BIO-LGCA: A cellular automaton modelling class for analysing collective cell migration

Andreas Deutsch, Josué Manik Nava-Sedeño, Simon Syga et al. · 2021 · PLoS Computational Biology

Collective dynamics in multicellular systems such as biological organs and tissues plays a key role in biological development, regeneration, and pathological conditions. Collective tissue dynamics-understood as population behaviour arising from the interplay of the constituting discrete cells-can be studied with on- and off-lattice agent-based models. However, classical on-lattice agent-based models, also known as cellular automata, fail to replicate key aspects of collective migration, which is a central instance of collective behaviour in multicellular systems. To overcome drawbacks of class

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportEngineering

MPCA SGD—A Method for Distributed Training of Deep Learning Models on Spark

Matthias Langer, Ashley Hall, Zhen He et al. · 2018 · IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems

Many distributed deep learning systems have been published over the past few years, often accompanied by impressive performance claims. In practice these figures are often achieved in high performance computing (HPC) environments with fast…

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Peak Width of Skeletonized Water Diffusion MRI in the Neonatal Brain

Manuel Blesa, Paola Galdi, Gemma Sullivan et al. · 2020 · Frontiers in Neurology

Preterm birth is closely associated with cognitive impairment and generalized dysconnectivity of neural networks inferred from water diffusion MRI (dMRI) metrics. Peak width of skeletonized mean diffusivity (PSMD) is a metric derived from histogram analysis of mean diffusivity across the white matter skeleton, and it is a useful biomarker of generalized dysconnectivity and cognition in adulthood. We calculated PSMD and five other histogram based metrics derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and neurite orientation and dispersion imaging (NODDI) in the newborn, and evaluated their accurac

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Motivational interviewing and self-determination theory in a web-based computer tailored physical activity intervention: A randomized controlled trial

Stijn A.H. Friederichs, Anke Oenema, Catherine Bolman et al. · 2016 · Psychology and Health

OBJECTIVE: This study explores whether a web-based physical activity (PA) intervention grounded in self-determination theory (SDT) and motivational interviewing (MI) is more effective and better appreciated than a traditional web-based PA…

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Elevated de novo protein synthesis in FMRP-deficient human neurons and its correction by metformin treatment

Kagistia Hana Utami, Nur Amirah Binte Mohammad Yusof, Jing Eugene Kwa et al. · 2020 · Molecular Autism

FXS is the most common genetic cause of intellectual (ID) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). FXS is caused by loss of FMRP, an RNA-binding protein involved in the translational regulation of a large number of neuronal mRNAs. Absence of FMRP has been shown to lead to elevated protein synthesis and is thought to be a major cause of the synaptic plasticity and behavioural deficits in FXS. The increase in protein synthesis results in part from abnormal activation of key protein translation pathways downstream of ERK1/2 and mTOR signalling. Pharmacological and genetic interventions that attenuate

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Effect of postoperative radiotherapy on survival for surgically managed pT3N0 and pT4aN0 laryngeal cancer: Analysis of the National Cancer Data Base

Evan M. Graboyes, Kevin Y. Zhan, Elizabeth Garrett‐Mayer et al. · 2017 · Cancer

BACKGROUND: The current study was conducted to determine the effect of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) on overall survival in patients with surgically managed pT3-T4aN0 laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). METHODS: A review of the…

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Phenotyping of difficult asthma using longitudinal physiological and biomarker measurements reveals significant differences in stability between clusters

Tasneem Zaihra, Christopher J. Walsh, Sara Ahmed et al. · 2016 · BMC Pulmonary Medicine

BACKGROUND: Although the heterogeneous nature of asthma has prompted asthma phenotyping with physiological or biomarker data, these studies have been mostly cross-sectional. Longitudinal studies that assess the stability of phenotypes based on a combination of physiological, clinical and biomarker data are currently lacking. Our objective was to assess the longitudinal stability of clusters derived from repeated measures of airway and physiological data over a 1-year period in moderate and severe asthmatics. METHODS: A total of 125 subjects, 48 with moderate asthma (MA) and 77 with severe asth

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Continuous neuromuscular blockade infusion for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients treated with targeted temperature management: A multicenter randomized controlled trial

Byung Kook Lee, In Soo Cho, Joo Suk Oh et al. · 2018 · PLoS ONE

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this trial was to investigate the effect of a continuous infusion of a neuromuscular blockade (NMB) in comatose out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) subjects who underwent targeted temperature management (TTM). METHODS: In this open-label, multicenter trial, subjects resuscitated from OHCA were randomly assigned to receive either NMB (38 subjects) or placebo (43 subjects) for 24 hours. Sedatives and analgesics were given according to the protocol of each hospital during TTM. The primary outcome was serum lactate levels at 24 hours after drug infusion. The secondary ou

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Fluid balance control in critically ill patients: results from POINCARE-2 stepped wedge cluster-randomized trial

Pierre‐Édouard Bollaert, Alexandra Monnier, Francis Schneider et al. · 2023 · Critical Care

BACKGROUND: In critically ill patients, positive fluid balance is associated with excessive mortality. The POINCARE-2 trial aimed to assess the effectiveness of a fluid balance control strategy on mortality in critically ill patients. METHODS: POINCARE-2 was a stepped wedge cluster open-label randomized controlled trial. We recruited critically ill patients in twelve volunteering intensive care units from nine French hospitals. Eligible patients were ≥ 18 years old, under mechanical ventilation, admitted to one of the 12 recruiting units for > 48 and ≤ 72 h, and had an expected length of stay

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Randomized multicentre feasibility trial of intermediate care versus standard ward care after emergency abdominal surgery (InCare trial)

Morten Vester‐Andersen, Tina Waldau, Jørn Wetterslev et al. · 2015 · British journal of surgery

BACKGROUND: Emergency abdominal surgery carries a considerable risk of death and postoperative complications. Early detection and timely management of complications may reduce mortality. The aim was to evaluate the effect and feasibility…

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeuroscience

Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers in Spinocerebellar Ataxia: A Pilot Study

Ashley M. Brouillette, Gülin Öz, Christopher M. Gómez · 2015 · Disease Markers

Neurodegenerative diseases, including the spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA), would benefit from the identification of reliable biomarkers that could serve as disease subtype-specific and stage-specific indicators for the development and monitoring of treatments. We analyzed the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) level of tau, α-synuclein, DJ-1, and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), proteins previously associated with neurodegenerative processes, in patients with the autosomal dominant SCA1, SCA2, and SCA6, and the sporadic disease multiple system atrophy, cerebellar type (MSA-C), compared with age-ma

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportMedicine

Randomized clinical trial of extensive intraoperative peritoneal lavage versus standard treatment for resectable advanced gastric cancer (CCOG 1102 trial)

Kazunari Misawa, Yoshinari Mochizuki, Munetoshi Sakai et al. · 2019 · British journal of surgery

BACKGROUND: A survival benefit of extensive intraoperative peritoneal lavage (EIPL) has been reported in patients with gastric cancer with positive peritoneal cytology. The hypothesis of this study was that EIPL may reduce peritoneal…

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessDecision Sciences

The Null Result Penalty

Felix Chopra, Ingar Haaland, Christopher Roth et al. · 2023 · The Economic Journal

Abstract We examine how the evaluation of research studies in economics depends on whether a study yielded a null result. Studies with null results are perceived to be less publishable, of lower quality, less important and less precisely…

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Recent human evolution has shaped geographical differences in susceptibility to disease

Urko M. Marigorta, Óscar Lao, Ferrán Casals et al. · 2011 · BMC Genomics

BACKGROUND: Searching for associations between genetic variants and complex diseases has been a very active area of research for over two decades. More than 51,000 potential associations have been studied and published, a figure that keeps increasing, especially with the recent explosion of array-based Genome-Wide Association Studies. Even if the number of true associations described so far is high, many of the putative risk variants detected so far have failed to be consistently replicated and are widely considered false positives. Here, we focus on the world-wide patterns of replicability of

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Towards implementation of cognitive bias modification in mental health care: State of the science, best practices, and ways forward

Janna N. Vrijsen, Ben Grafton, Ernst H. W. Koster et al. · 2024 · Behaviour Research and Therapy

Cognitive bias modification (CBM) has evolved from an experimental method testing cognitive mechanisms of psychopathology to a promising tool for accessible digital mental health care. While we are still discovering the conditions under which clinically relevant effects occur, the dire need for accessible, effective, and low-cost mental health tools underscores the need for implementation where such tools are available. Providing our expert opinion as Association for Cognitive Bias Modification members, we first discuss the readiness of different CBM approaches for clinical implementation, the

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessEconomics, Econometrics and Finance

The Gender Pay Gap: Micro Sources and Macro Consequences

Iacopo Morchio, Christian Moser · 2026 · American Economic Review

Using linked employer-employee data from Brazil, we document a significant gender pay gap, which is largely attributed to women working at lower-paying employers. To interpret this fact, we develop an equilibrium search model with…

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Advances and challenges in immunotherapy in head and neck cancer

Hazem Aboaid, Taimur Khalid, Abbas Hussain et al. · 2025 · Frontiers in Immunology

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains a challenging malignancy with suboptimal survival outcomes despite advances in surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Immunotherapy, particularly immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1), has transformed treatment paradigms, yet its full potential in HNSCC is still being explored. This review evaluates the current landscape of immunotherapy in both locally advanced (LA) and recurrent/metastatic (R/M) HNSCC, discussing key clinical trials, emerging biomarker

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine

Common intensive care scoring systems do not outperform age and glasgow coma scale score in predicting mid-term mortality in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage treated in the intensive care unit

Marika Fallenius, Markus B. Skrifvars, Matti Reinikainen et al. · 2017 · Scandinavian Journal of Trauma Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine

BACKGROUND: Intensive care scoring systems are widely used in intensive care units (ICU) around the world for case-mix adjustment in research and benchmarking. The aim of our study was to investigate the usefulness of common intensive care scoring systems in predicting mid-term mortality in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) treated in intensive care units (ICU). METHODS: We performed a retrospective observational study including adult patients with spontaneous ICH treated in Finnish ICUs during 2003-2012. We used six-month mortality as the primary outcome of interest. We

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessSocial Sciences

Teaching Clinical Pharmacology Using Team‐Based Learning: A Comparison Between Third‐ and Fourth‐Year Medical Students

Imad Bou Akl, Fatima Ghaddar, Ramzi Sabra et al. · 2011 · The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology

The purpose of this study was to formulate evidence-based recommendations on whether to deliver the team-based learning (TBL)-designed clinical pharmacology course at the American University of Beirut Faculty of Medicine (AUBFM) during the…

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportAgricultural and Biological Sciences

Effects of within-generation thermal history on flight performance ofCeratitis capitata: colder is better

Nanike Esterhuizen, Susana Clusella‐Trullas, Corné E. van Daalen et al. · 2014 · Journal of Experimental Biology

The influence of thermal history on temperature-dependent flight performance was investigated in an invasive agricultural pest insect, Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae). Flies were exposed to one of four developmental acclimation…

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Diagnostic milk biomarkers for predicting the metabolic health status of dairy cattle during early lactation

S. Heirbaut, Xiaoping Jing, Barbara Stefańska et al. · 2022 · Journal of Dairy Science

Data on metabolic profiles of blood sampled at d 3, 6, 9, and 21 in lactation from 117 lactations (99 cows) were used for unsupervised k-means clustering. Blood metabolic parameters included -hydroxybutyrate (BHB), nonesterified fatty acids, glucose, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and insulin. Clustering relied on the average and range of the 5 blood parameters of all 4 sampling days. The clusters were labeled as imbalanced (n = 42) and balanced (n = 72) metabolic status based on the values of the blood parameters. Various random forest models were built to predict the metabolic cluster

View details →