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Failure-mode index

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A searchable index of real negative results, null findings, and replication failures from the published literature — so you can learn what didn't work before repeating it.

WASTE indexes published research — it does not host or republish full papers. Each entry is a metadata record (title, authors, DOI) compiled from open scholarly databases, with the abstract shown in full only where the paper is openly licensed (e.g. Creative Commons); otherwise a short excerpt is shown for reference under fair use. WASTE classifies each work by failure type; classifications are automated and approximate.

1934 results for "Mpro" · page 53 of 65

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

Custom Memory Design for Logic-in-Memory: Drawbacks and Improvements over Conventional Memories

Fabrizio Ottati, Giovanna Turvani, Marco Vacca et al. · 2023 · arXiv

The speed of modern digital systems is severely limited by memory latency (the ``Memory Wall'' problem). Data exchange between Logic and Memory is also responsible for a large part of the system energy consumption. Logic--In--Memory (LiM) represents an attractive solution to this problem. By performing part of the computations directly inside the memory the system speed can be improved while reducing its energy consumption. LiM solutions that offer the major boost in performance are based on the modification of the memory cell. However, what is the cost of such modifications? How do these impa

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessEconomics, Econometrics and Finance

The Trade-off Between Minimal Instability and Larger Improvements over Deferred Acceptance

Taylor Knipe, Josue Ortega · 2025 · arXiv

The celebrated Efficiency-Adjusted Deferred Acceptance mechanism (EADA) improves the efficiency of the DA algorithm via consented priority violations. Notwithstanding its many merits, we show that EADA can improve only two students when an alternative mechanism that Pareto-dominates DA could benefit all but one student. This shortfall in the number of students improved is not exclusive of EADA but extends to all setwise minimally unstable mechanisms, i.e. those that generate a set of blocking pairs that is never a strict superset of that of another mechanism. The incompatibility between number

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

On the negative-result experiments in quantum mechanics

Kenichi Konishi · 2023 · arXiv

We comment on the so-called negative-result experiments (also known as null measurements, interaction-free measurements, and so on) in quantum mechanics (QM), in the light of the new general understanding of the quantum-measurement processes, proposed recently. All experiments of this kind (null-measurements) can be understood as improper measurements with an intentionally biased detector set up, which introduces exclusion or selection of certain events. The prediction on the state of a microscopic system under study based on a null measurement, is sometimes dramatically described as ``wave-fu

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

A Negative Result on Gradient Matching for Selective Backprop

Lukas Balles, Cedric Archambeau, Giovanni Zappella · 2023 · arXiv

With increasing scale in model and dataset size, the training of deep neural networks becomes a massive computational burden. One approach to speed up the training process is Selective Backprop. For this approach, we perform a forward pass to obtain a loss value for each data point in a minibatch. The backward pass is then restricted to a subset of that minibatch, prioritizing high-loss examples. We build on this approach, but seek to improve the subset selection mechanism by choosing the (weighted) subset which best matches the mean gradient over the entire minibatch. We use the gradients w.r

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

When Skills Don't Help: A Negative Result on Procedural Knowledge for Tool-Grounded Agents in Offensive Cybersecurity

Samuel Jacob Chacko, James Hugglestone, Chashi Mahiul Islam et al. · 2026 · arXiv

Agent Skills, structured packages of procedural knowledge loaded into an LLM agent at inference time, are widely reported to improve task pass rates by an average of 16.2~percentage points across diverse domains. Yet the same benchmarks show wide variance, with 16 of 84 tasks suffering negative deltas when Skills are introduced. The community has not yet articulated a clean mechanism for \emph{when} Skills help and when they are merely redundant overhead. We re-analyze a recently published 180-run controlled study of an MCP-grounded autonomous Capture-the-Flag (CTF) agent under four documentat

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

Demystifying Lipschitz verification: positive matrices, negative results

Simon Kuang, Yuezhu Xu, S. Sivaranjani et al. · 2026 · arXiv

The global Lipschitz constant of a neural network is related to robustness and generalization, yet unlike in many classical models, it is not plainly legible from the parameters. This has motivated sophisticated verification algorithms, especially semidefinite programming (SDP) based on incremental quadratic constraints on the activation functions, to improve on the fast but often loose product of layerwise Lipschitz constants (the trivial bound). We ask why Lipschitz verification is a problem in the first place. Our answer is that the difficulty is structural: estimating a network's Lipschitz

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

New Protocols and Negative Results for Textual Entailment Data Collection

Samuel R. Bowman, Jennimaria Palomaki, Livio Baldini Soares et al. · 2020 · arXiv

Natural language inference (NLI) data has proven useful in benchmarking and, especially, as pretraining data for tasks requiring language understanding. However, the crowdsourcing protocol that was used to collect this data has known issues and was not explicitly optimized for either of these purposes, so it is likely far from ideal. We propose four alternative protocols, each aimed at improving either the ease with which annotators can produce sound training examples or the quality and diversity of those examples. Using these alternatives and a fifth baseline protocol, we collect and compare

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

Schauder Bases for $C[0, 1]$ Using ReLU, Softplus and Two Sigmoidal Functions

Anand Ganesh, Babhrubahan Bose, Anand Rajagopalan · 2025 · arXiv

We construct four Schauder bases for the space $C[0,1]$, one using ReLU functions, another using Softplus functions, and two more using sigmoidal versions of the ReLU and Softplus functions. This establishes the existence of a basis using these functions for the first time, and improves on the universal approximation property associated with them. We also show an $O(\frac{1}{n})$ approximation bound based on our ReLU basis, and a negative result on constructing multivariate functions using finite combinations of ReLU functions.

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMathematics

Realization of compact spaces as cb-Helson sets

Yemon Choi · 2015 · arXiv

We show that, given a compact Hausdorff space $Ω$, there is a compact group ${\mathbb G}$ and a homeomorphic embedding of $Ω$ into ${\mathbb G}$, such that the restriction map ${\rm A}({\mathbb G})\to C(Ω)$ is a complete quotient map of operator spaces. In particular, this shows that there exist compact groups which contain infinite cb-Helson subsets, answering a question raised in [Choi--Samei, Proc. AMS 2013; cf. http://arxiv.org/abs/1104.2953]. A negative result from the same paper is also improved.

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

Addressing Bias in Active Learning with Depth Uncertainty Networks... or Not

Chelsea Murray, James U. Allingham, Javier Antorán et al. · 2021 · arXiv

Farquhar et al. [2021] show that correcting for active learning bias with underparameterised models leads to improved downstream performance. For overparameterised models such as NNs, however, correction leads either to decreased or unchanged performance. They suggest that this is due to an "overfitting bias" which offsets the active learning bias. We show that depth uncertainty networks operate in a low overfitting regime, much like underparameterised models. They should therefore see an increase in performance with bias correction. Surprisingly, they do not. We propose that this negative res

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

A low energy optimization of the CERN-NGS neutrino beam for a theta_{13} driven neutrino oscillation search

A. Rubbia, P. Sala · 2002 · arXiv

The possibility to improve the CERN to Gran Sasso neutrino beam performances for theta_{13} searches is investigated. We show that by an appropriate optimization of the target and focusing optics of the present CNGS design, we can increase the flux of low energy neutrinos by about a factor 5 compared to the current tau optimized focalisation. With the ICARUS 2.35 kton detector at LNGS and in case of negative result, this would allow to improve the limit to sin^22 theta_{13} by an order of magnitude better than the current limit of CHOOZ at Delta m^2 approximately 3 times 10^{-3} eV^2 within 5

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

Look-ups are not (yet) all you need for deep learning inference

Calvin McCarter, Nicholas Dronen · 2022 · arXiv

Fast approximations to matrix multiplication have the potential to dramatically reduce the cost of neural network inference. Recent work on approximate matrix multiplication proposed to replace costly multiplications with table-lookups by fitting a fast hash function from training data. In this work, we propose improvements to this previous work, targeted to the deep learning inference setting, where one has access to both training data and fixed (already learned) model weight matrices. We further propose a fine-tuning procedure for accelerating entire neural networks while minimizing loss in

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

On Compression of Cryptographic Keys

Aldar C-F. Chan · 2007 · arXiv

Any secured system can be modeled as a capability-based access control system in which each user is given a set of secret keys of the resources he is granted access to. In some large systems with resource-constrained devices, such as sensor networks and RFID systems, the design is sensitive to memory or key storage cost. With a goal to minimize the maximum users' key storage, key compression based on key linking, that is, deriving one key from another without compromising security, is studied. A lower bound on key storage needed for a general access structure with key derivation is derived. Th

Negative / Null Result Report

Goal-Directed Hemodynamics in Rapid Response Teams

Erin Waggoner, null null, null null et al. · 2023 · John Heinrichs Scholarly & Creative Activities Day

Rapid Response Teams became a hospital standard in 2004 after a campaign by the Institute of Healthcare Improvement. The intention was to reduce hospital morbidity and mortality by bringing the resources to the bedside that match the…

View details →DOI: 10.58809/lahg2918
Negative / Null Result Report

Examining Data Collection, Archiving Protocols, and Data Accessibility in Fossil Preparation Labs

Shyla Davison, null null, null null et al. · 2022 · John Heinrichs Scholarly & Creative Activities Day

Over the past five years, there has been many improvements to the Sternberg Museum of Natural History that have resulted in a renovated fossil preparation lab and a new database for specimen data storage. To find ways to improve our…

View details →DOI: 10.58809/gqnc8856
Negative / Null Result Report

Art Integration in Urban Elementary Schools: Can it Improve Student Learning Outcomes in Other Subject Areas?

Julie Flynn, null null, null null et al. · 2017 · Journal of Applied and Educational Research

Teachers and students nationwide are struggling to address the disparity in academic achievement between students in urban, socioeconomically underprivileged and racially segregated school districts, and their more affluent, white,…

View details →DOI: 10.58809/izdq4092
Negative / Null Result Report

Using Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for treating Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries and Persistent Post-Concussion Syndrome

Mick Harris, null null, null null et al. · 2022 · John Heinrichs Scholarly & Creative Activities Day

Treatments for mild Traumatic Brain Injuries (mTBI’s) and Persistent Post-Concussion Syndrome (PPCS) have focused on alleviating symptoms and disabilities. Researchers have seen improvements with patients who have had brain injuries due to…

View details →DOI: 10.58809/vmvv1504
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics

The Spitzer search for the transits of HARPS low-mass planets - II. Null results for 19 planets

M. Gillon, B. -O. Demory, C. Lovis et al. · 2017 · arXiv

Short-period super-Earths and Neptunes are now known to be very frequent around solar-type stars. Improving our understanding of these mysterious planets requires the detection of a significant sample of objects suitable for detailed characterization. Searching for the transits of the low-mass planets detected by Doppler surveys is a straightforward way to achieve this goal. Indeed, Doppler surveys target the most nearby main-sequence stars, they regularly detect close-in low-mass planets with significant transit probability, and their radial velocity data constrain strongly the ephemeris of p

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

CMSSM, naturalness and the "fine-tuning price" of the Very Large Hadron Collider

Andrew Fowlie · 2014 · arXiv

The absence of supersymmetry or other new physics at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has lead many to question naturalness arguments. With Bayesian statistics, we argue that natural models are most probable and that naturalness is not merely an aesthetic principle. We calculate a probabilistic measure of naturalness, the Bayesian evidence, for the Standard Model (SM) with and without quadratic divergences, confirming that the SM with quadratic divergences is improbable. We calculate the Bayesian evidence for the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (CMSSM) with naturalness priors

Negative / Null Result Report

How to incorporate qualitative analysis into experimental research — Why Japanese students studying in the UK did not improve their fluency?

Misa Fujio · 2010 · Linguistic Proceedings Series

This study investigated the longitudinal improvement in fluency of three Japanese participants who studied at a graduate school in the UK. In addition to quantitative analysis of videotaped conversations focusing on core components of…

View details →DOI: 10.36505/exling-2010/03/0013/000133
Negative / Null Result Report

Addition of Venetoclax to Azacitidine Did Not Improve Survival in Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Was Not Well Tolerated: Real World Experience

David Yanni, Nupur Krishnan, Rouslan Kotchetkov · 2026 · Cancers

Introduction: Front-line therapy with Azacitidine (AZA) + Venetoclax (Ven) improved overall survival (OS) and remissions in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients ineligible for standard induction. Less is known about the outcome of AML…

View details →DOI: 10.3390/cancers18050841
Negative / Null Result Report

Citrulline ingestion did not improve the age‐associated reduction in nitric oxide synthesis (698.6)

Il‐Young Kim, Scott Schutzler, Nicolaas Deutz et al. · 2014 · The FASEB Journal

A reduction in nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability that impairs peripheral blood flow regulation is a natural consequence of aging. Therefore , we investigated the effect of ingestion of citrulline, the precursor of arginine, on de novo…

View details →DOI: 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.698.6
Negative / Null Result Report

"We regret to inform you that you did not match": Reflections on how to improve the match experience

Tyee Kenneth Fellows, Sabina Freiman, Vladimir Ljubojevic et al. · 2020 · Canadian Medical Education Journal

Background: With the increasing awareness and action amongst stakeholders in addressing the concerning rise of unmatched Canadian Medical Graduates (CMGs), little is known from those who go unmatched. We use our unmatched experience to…

View details →DOI: 10.36834/cmej.69322
Negative / Null Result Report

Administration of DDAVP did not improve the pharmacokinetics of FVIII concentrate in a clinically significant manner

Janneke I. Loomans, Eva Stokhuijzen, Marjolein Peters et al. · 2018 · Journal of Clinical and Translational Research

Background: The half-life and mean residence time (MRT) of infused recombinant factor VIII (FVIII) concentrate are associated with pre-infusion levels of von Willebrand factor (VWF) in severely affected hemophilia A patients. It is…

View details →DOI: 10.18053/jctres.03.2017s2.003
Negative / Null Result Report

Abstract 20: Public Reporting of Mortality Rates for Cardiovascular Conditions Did Not Improve Patient Outcomes

Karen E Joynt, E. John Orav, Ashish K Jha · 2014 · Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes

Background: Public reporting may improve provider performance, although evidence for its impact has been mixed. In the U.S., public reporting of hospital performance became widespread in late 2004. Led by the Centers for Medicare and…

View details →DOI: 10.1161/circoutcomes.7.suppl_1.20
Negative / Null Result Report

Did socioeconomic inequalities in overweight and obesity in South African women of childbearing age improve between 1998 and 2016? A decomposition analysis

Mweete D. Nglazi, John E. Ataguba · 2024 · PLOS Global Public Health

Overweight and obesity in adult women contribute to deaths and disability from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and obesity-related health problems in their offspring. Globally, overweight and obesity prevalence among women of childbearing…

View details →DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0003719
Negative / Null Result Report

Abstract 028: Electronic Health Record Meaningful Use Did Not Improve Pay-for-Performance Outcomes

Michael P Thompson, Ilana Graetz, Naleef Fareed et al. · 2017 · Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes

Objective: With the goal of improving healthcare quality, Medicare has implemented a series of pay-for-performance initiatives and allocated substantial financial resources to promote meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs). The…

View details →DOI: 10.1161/circoutcomes.10.suppl_3.028
Negative / Null Result Report

A modified rehabilitation paradigm bilaterally increased rat extensor digitorum communis muscle size but did not improve forelimb function after stroke

Sally Caine, Mariam Alaverdashvili, Frederick Colbourne et al. · 2024 · PLOS ONE

Malnutrition after stroke may lessen the beneficial effects of rehabilitation on motor recovery through influences on both brain and skeletal muscle. Enriched rehabilitation (ER), a combination of environmental enrichment and forelimb…

View details →DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302008