Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessSocial Sciences
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
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine
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
View details →DOI: 10.1186/s12916-020-01517-w Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessSocial Sciences
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
View details →DOI: 10.1017/s1930297500005520 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
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
View details →DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1233594 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessLanguage and Literature
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
View details →DOI: 10.1017/langcog.2025.10031 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPharmacy and materia medica
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
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessAstrophysics
Chen Du, Yong-Feng Huang, Zhi-Bin Zhang et al. · 2024 · The Astrophysical Journal
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are bright radio transients with millisecond durations, which typically occur at extragalactic distances. The association of FRB 20200428 with the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154 strongly indicates that they could originate from neutron stars, which naturally leads to the expectation that periodicity connected with the spinning of magnetars should exist in the activities of repeating FRBs. However, previous studies have failed to find any signatures supporting such a conjecture. Here we perform a thorough search for short-timescale periodicity in the four most active
View details →DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad8cd5 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine
Katie Finning, David A Richards, Victoria A Goodwin et al. · 2019 · BMJ Open
Objectives Physical rehabilitation is a complex process, and trials of rehabilitation interventions are increasing in number but often report null results. This study aimed to establish treatment success rates in physical rehabilitation trials funded by the National Institute of Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme and examine any relationship between treatment success and the quality of intervention development work undertaken.Design This is a mixed methods study.Setting This study was conducted in the UK.Methods The NIHR HTA portfolio was searched for all complet
View details →DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026289 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics
H. C. Eggers, B. Buschbeck · 2013 · Advances in High Energy Physics
A detailed understanding of all effects and influences on higher-order correlations is essential. At low charged multiplicity, the effect of a non-Poissonian multiplicity distribution can significantly distort correlations. Evidently, the reference samples with respect to which correlations are measured should yield a null result in the absence of correlations. We show how the careful specification of desired properties necessarily leads to an average-of-multinomials reference sample. The resulting internal cumulants and their averaging over several multiplicities fulfill all requirements of c
View details →DOI: 10.1155/2013/230515 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics
C. Abel, N. J. Ayres, G. Ban, G. Bison, K. Bodek, V. Bondar, E. Chanel, C. B. Crawford, M. Daum, B. Dechenaux, S. Emmenegger, P. Flaux, W. C. Griffith, P. G. Harris, Y. Kermaidic, K. Kirch, S. Komposch, P. A. Koss, J. Krempel, B. Lauss, T. Lefort, Prajwal MohanMurthy, Oscar Naviliat Cuncic, D. Pais, F. M. Piegsa, Guillaume Pignol, M. Rawlik, D. Ries, Stephanie Roccia, D. Rozpedzik, Philipp Schmidt-Wellenburg, N. Severijns, Y. V. Stadnik, J. A. Thorne, A. Weis, E. Wursten, Jacek Zejma, Geza Zsigmond · 2023 · SciPost Physics
Ultra-low-mass axions are a viable dark matter candidate and may form a coherently oscillating classical field. Nuclear spins in experiments on Earth might couple to this oscillating axion dark-matter field, when propagating on Earth's trajectory through our Galaxy. This spin coupling resembles an oscillating pseudo-magnetic field which modulates the spin precession of nuclear spins. Here we report on the null result of a demonstration experiment searching for a frequency modulation of the free spin-precession signal of \magHg in a 1 $\mu$T magnetic field. Our search covers the axion mass rang
View details →DOI: 10.21468/scipostphys.15.2.058 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine
Alexis David James Makin, Afzal Rahman, Marco Bertamini · 2020 · PLoS ONE
Previous work has shown that symmetrical stimuli are judged as lasting longer than asymmetrical ones, even when actual duration is matched. This effect has been replicated with different methods and stimuli types. We aimed to a) replicate the effect of symmetry on subjective duration, and b) assess whether it was further modulated by the number of symmetrical axes. There was no evidence for either effect. This null result cannot be explained by reduced statistical power or enhanced floor or ceiling effects. There is no obvious stimulus-based explanation either. However, we are mindful of the r
View details →DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238554 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessConsciousness. Cognition
Ronald Andringa, Walter R. Boot, Nelson A. Roque et al. · 2018 · Cognitive Research
Abstract Placing one’s hands near an object has been reported to enhance visual processing in a number of ways. We explored whether hand proximity confers an advantage when applied to complex visual search. In one experiment, participants indicated the presence or absence of a target item in a baggage x-ray image by pressing response boxes located at the edge of a tablet computer screen, requiring them to grip the display between their hands. Alternatively, they responded using a mouse held within their lap. Contrary to expectations, hand position did not influence search performance. In a sec
View details →DOI: 10.1186/s41235-018-0094-7 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessBotany
Yuliang Liu, Xinye Liu, Xue Wang et al. · 2020 · BMC Plant Biology
Abstract Background As global warming becomes increasingly severe, it is urgent that we enhance the heat tolerance of crops. We previously reported that Arabidopsis thaliana PHOSPHOINOSITIDE-SPECIFIC PHOSPHOLIPASE C9 (AtPLC9) promotes heat tolerance. Results In this study, we ectopically expressed AtPLC9 in rice to examine its potential to improve heat tolerance in this important crop. Whereas AtPLC9 did not improve rice tolerance to salt, drought or cold, transgenic rice did exhibit greater heat tolerance than the wild type. High-throughput RNA-seq revealed extensive and dynamic transcriptome
View details →DOI: 10.1186/s12870-020-02709-5 Negative / Null Result ReportMedicine
Yang G, Milne GL, Nogueira MS et al. · 2026 · International journal of cancer
Despite widespread interest, large randomized controlled trials have failed to demonstrate chemopreventive benefits of antioxidant supplementation, raising concerns about its efficacy and safety. Building on our prior observation of a…
View details →DOI: 10.1002/ijc.70585 Negative / Null Result ReportMedicine
Samaniego-González E, Podlipnik S, Ribero S et al. · 2026 · Actas dermo-sifiliograficas
Background Management of patients with cutaneous melanoma and positive sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has shifted toward surveillance rather than complete lymph node dissection (CLND), because CLND has failed to demonstrate a survival…
View details →DOI: 10.1016/j.ad.2026.104648 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine (General)
MM. Tahmasbi, F. Farahmand , AA. Amis · 1999 · Acta Medica Iranica
The resistant* of pateSa against lateral displacement (Le. the stability), was studied tinder a range of conditions in vitro, at a range of knee flexion angles. Muscle forces were applied in physiological directions along the separate quadriceps muscles. Normal muscle actions with constant tension showed constant patellar stability up to sixty degrees knee flexion, and then a significant increase at ninety degrees. A pathological knee was simulated by relaxing vastus medians, and ■ lateral stability then dropped by 47%. Isolated rttlnaeular release in the pathological knee did not improv
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology
Stephanie M Sherman, Timothy P Buckley, Elsa Baena et al. · 2016 · Frontiers in Psychology
Many college students struggle to perform well on exams in the early morning. Although students drink caffeinated beverages to feel more awake, it is unclear whether these actually improve performance. After consuming coffee (caffeinated or decaffeinated), college-age adults completed implicit and explicit memory tasks in the early morning and late afternoon (Experiment 1). During the morning, participants ingesting caffeine demonstrated a striking improvement in explicit memory, but not implicit memory. Caffeine did not alter memory performance in the afternoon. In Experiment 2, participants
View details →DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01764 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMicrobiology
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
View details →DOI: 10.3390/biom13040702 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine
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
View details →DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280593 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessAstrophysics
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
View details →DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-5215-9 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessOptics. Light
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
View details →DOI: 10.1016/j.rio.2024.100710 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessScience
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
View details →DOI: 10.17159/sajs.2023/12102 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
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
View details →DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00915 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessNeurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
H. Tanji, H. Nagasawa, T. Hayashi et al. · 1996 · Behavioural Neurology
We studied the chronic effect of thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) in a patient with spinocerebellar degeneration by measuring cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (CMRG1c) using 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18FDG) and positron emission tomography (PET). A 56-year-old female, who had suffered from progressive ataxia for 2 years, was treated by intravenous administration of 2 mg TRH for 3 weeks, and CMRG1c of the brain was measured before and after treatment. CMRG1c was markedly decreased in the cerebellum and there was no significant difference before and after the treatment, i.e. mean CM
View details →DOI: 10.3233/ben-1996-93-409 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessScience
NATALIA C. SILVA, KAREN M. LEÃO, JOÃO T. PÁDUA et al. · 2021 · Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências
Abstract To evaluate the addition of antioxidants in extenders on post-thaw bovine semen quality and in vitro embryo production efficiency. Six semen samples were collected from five Holstein bulls. In the experiment I, the samples were diluted with AndroMed® and Bovimix® and added antioxidants glutathione (1.5 and 2.5 mM) and melatonin (0.5 and 1.0 mM). In the experiment II, the best treatments obtained in experiment I were used for in vitro fecundation. Glutathione did not improve sperm viability. Melatonin had a negative effect on semen characteristics. Andromed® showed better results in sp
View details →DOI: 10.1590/0001-3765202120191229 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine
M.Ghasemi, Z. Hajheidari, M. Golpour · 2007 · Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences
AbstractPemphigus Erythematosus specially its localized form is a rare autoimmune blistering disease combining features of Pemphigus Foliaceus and Lupus Erythematosus. We reported a 60 years old woman with skin lesion which presented Erythemato squamo plaque with oozing in the right cheek. The chief compliant was burning and pruritus. Skin biopsy was obtained and discoid Lupus Erythemato was reported. She was prescribed with topical steroid but did not improve. All of the lab tests such as Anti DNA, ESR, RF, CRP, CH50, C3, C4, ANA were normal. The biopsy repeated and Pemphigus Erythematosus wa
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessAgriculture
Marjatta Uosukainen, Mauritz Vestberg · 1994 · Agricultural and Food Science
The importance of different rooting methods and the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AMF) inoculation on the rooting rate, weaning survival and subsequent growth of microcuttings of Malus rootstock YP and the Finnish crab apple cultivars Hanna and Marjatta were studied in four experiments conducted at the Laukaa Research and Elite Plant Unit, Finland. Sucrose in the in vitro rooting medium gave the best support to weaning survival in comparision with glucose and fructose. Directly rooted microcuttings had a higher survival rate than in vitro rooted microcuttings. AMF inoculation did not impr
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessDiseases of the blood and blood-forming organs
Daniel A. Ermann, Victoria A. Vardell, Lindsey Fitzgerald et al. · 2026 · eJHaem
ABSTRACT Introduction B‐cell prolymphocytic leukemia (B‐PLL) is a rare, aggressive leukemic B‐cell malignancy historically associated with poor outcomes and recently reclassified in the WHO Fifth Edition but retained as a distinct entity in the ICC. Methods We analyzed 950 patients labeled as B‐PLL in the National Cancer Database (2004–2019), identified using ICD‐O‐3 morphology code 9833/3. Results Median age was 72 years, and 72% received systemic therapy at diagnosis. Median overall survival (OS) was poor (2.8 years) and did not improve over time. Patients initially managed with active surve
View details →DOI: 10.1002/jha2.70299 Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine
Xavier Jannot, Alpha Oumar Diallo, Judicaelle Didierjean et al. · 2025 · European Journal of Case Reports in Internal Medicine
We report the case of a 75-year-old woman admitted to the emergency department for confusion, gait disturbances and mutism associated with an inflammatory syndrome occurring 3 weeks after acute carbon monoxide intoxication. The main hypothesis upon arrival was infectious meningoencephalitis, and the patient was put on acyclovir and antibiotics in meningeal doses. After a short stay in intensive care, the patient’s condition did not improve, and the revaluation of her case history and imaging studies led to the diagnosis of post-interval syndrome secondary to carbon monoxide intoxication after
View details →DOI: 10.12890/2025_005235 Negative / Null Result ReportMedicine
Beck QM, Sachet J, Cargnelli C et al. · 2026 · The Journal of clinical psychiatry
Objectives: Unwanted intrusive thoughts (UITs) of intentional infant-related harm are common among birthing parents. Evidence to date has failed to find any association with physical aggression toward the infant. However, the relationship…
View details →DOI: 10.4088/jcp.25m15985 