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Negative Results

"Publication bias against null results is a known major problem that limits the self-correction function of science – anything that addresses this should help science progress more rapidly." (Marcus Munafò, Professor of Biological Psychology at the University of Bristol)

In this article collection, we are highlighting some of the negative results studies that have been published by BMC Research Notes recently and we are aiming to include more articles as they become available. We welcome submissions reporting scientifically valid negative results.


  1. Sperm ageing has major evolutionary implications but has received comparatively little attention. Ageing in sperm and other cells is driven largely by oxidative damage from reactive oxygen species (ROS) genera...

    Authors: Biz R. Turnell, Luisa Kumpitsch, Anne-Cécile Ribou and Klaus Reinhardt

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2021 14:131

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  2. Intellectual Disability (ID) represents a neuropsychiatric disorder, which its etiopathogenesis remains insufficiently understood. Mutations in the Aristaless Related Homeobox gene (ARX) have been identified to c...

    Authors: Yousra Benmakhlouf, Renaud Touraine, Ines Harzallah, Zeineb Zian, Kaoutar Ben Makhlouf, Amina Barakat, Naima Ghailani Nourouti and Mohcine Bennani Mechita

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2021 14:110

    Content type: Research note

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  3. In 2018, we conducted a retrospective survey using the medical records of 484 patients with type 2 diabetes. The observed value of coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence after 5 years and the predicted value b...

    Authors: Yasunari Yamashita, Rina Kitajima, Kiyoshi Matsubara, Gaku Inoue and Hajime Matsubara

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2021 14:92

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  4. The use of agarose in nucleic acid electrophoresis is the gold standard. However, agarose is very expensive and not readily available in resource limited developing countries like Ghana. Hence, finding a more ...

    Authors: Francis Tanam Djankpa, Gideon Akuamoah Wiafe, Bernard Ntim Boateng, Korantema Mawuena Tsegah, Samuel Essien-Baidoo, Mark Bilinyi Ulanja, Kwame Ofori Affram, Abdala Mumuni Ussif, Desmond Owusu Agyeman and Gabriel Asante

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2021 14:73

    Content type: Research note

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  5. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are important regulators of vascular and uterine remodeling. They exhibit proteolytic activity implicating the efficiency of trophoblast invasion to the uterine wall involving ...

    Authors: Ritva Nissi, Markku Santala and Anne Talvensaari-Mattila

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2021 14:31

    Content type: Research note

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  6. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as novel biomarkers for a variety of chronic conditions including autoimmune disease. PAXgene Blood RNA tubes are routinely used in clinical research and molecular d...

    Authors: Lukasz S. Wylezinski, Guzel I. Shaginurova and Charles F. Spurlock III

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2020 13:531

    Content type: Research note

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  7. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, large numbers of people will receive one of the several medications proposed to treat COVID-19, including patients of reproductive age. Given that some medications have show...

    Authors: Silvia Rizzi, Maarten J. Wensink, Rune Lindahl-Jacobsen, Lu Tian, Ying Lu and Michael L. Eisenberg

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2020 13:509

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  8. The purpose of this study was to explore whether plant programmed cell death (PCD) cascade can sense the presence of the animal-only BH3 protein Bid, a BCL-2 family protein known to play a regulatory role in t...

    Authors: Anna Manara, Zahra Imanifard, Linda Fracasso, Diana Bellin and Massimo Crimi

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2020 13:450

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  9. GLUT2 is a major facilitative glucose transporter, expressed from the SLC2A2 gene, with essential roles in the liver. Recent work in mice has shown that preventing Glut2 production in specific neuronal population...

    Authors: Nicola Morrice, Lidy van Aalten, Alison McNeilly, Rory J. McCrimmon, Ewan R. Pearson, Rosamund Langston and Calum Sutherland

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2020 13:438

    Content type: Research note

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  10. Critical illness polyneuropathy (CIP) is a common complication of severe systemic illness treated in intensive care medicine. Ischemic stroke leads to an acute critical injury of the brain with hemiparesis, im...

    Authors: Petra Huehnchen, Klaus Viktor Toyka, Karen Gertz, Matthias Endres and Wolfgang Boehmerle

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2020 13:425

    Content type: Research note

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  11. Naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber) has recently attracted interest in biomedical research due to its exceptional longevity, cancer resistance and tolerance to potentially harmful conditions or stimuli. Given ...

    Authors: Mosiany Letura Kisipan, Rodi Omondi Ojoo, Titus I. Kanui and Klas S. P. Abelson

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2020 13:416

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  12. Selective kappa opioid receptor (KOR) agonists were shown to produce a dose-dependent depression of brain-stimulation reward (BSR) in the rat intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) tests. However, limited studie...

    Authors: Peng Huang, Taylor A. Gentile, John W. Muschamp and Lee-Yuan Liu-Chen

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2020 13:384

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  13. Residents living with dementia (RLWD) often experience changes in their visual perception, which could reduce food intake. Inadequate food intake is known to cause malnutrition, which increases the risk of hos...

    Authors: Rachael Donnelly, Cindy Wei, Jill Morrison-Koechl and Heather Keller

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2020 13:353

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  14. Target specific small molecule inhibitors has driven signaling pathway discovery and are used as common positive controls in drug discovery screens. During a biophysical screen, using surface plasmon resonance...

    Authors: Siphokazi Sinethemba Mtwebana and Earl Prinsloo

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2020 13:345

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  15. Mouse models have delivered variable recapitulation of Kyasanur Forest disease (KFD) pathology and consistently demonstrated neurological involvement which may be a limited feature of human disease. With the p...

    Authors: A. M. Nikiforuk, K. Tierny, T. A. Cutts, D. K. Kobasa, S. S. Theriault and B. W. M. Cook

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2020 13:291

    Content type: Data note

    Published on:

  17. Transcriptome analysis of human whole blood is used to discover biomarkers of diseases and to assess phenotypic traits. Here we have collected small volumes of blood in Tempus solution and tested whether diffe...

    Authors: Rebecca Mathew, Mohammed Toufiq, Valentina Mattei, Muna Al Hashmi, Harshitha Shobha Manjunath, Basirudeen Syed Ahamed Kabeer, Rita Calzone, Chiara Cugno, Damien Chaussabel, Sara Deola and Sara Tomei

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2020 13:150

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  18. Dopamine-replacement utilizing L-DOPA is still the mainstay treatment for Parkinson’s disease (PD), but often leads to development of L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia (LID), which can be as debilitating as the motor ...

    Authors: Mitchell J. Bartlett, Lisa Y. So, Lajos Szabò, David P. Skinner, Kate L. Parent, Michael L. Heien, Todd W. Vanderah, Robin Polt, Scott J. Sherman and Torsten Falk

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2020 13:149

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  19. Although controversial, there is increasing concern that Crohn’s disease may be a zoonotic infectious disease consequent to a mycobacterial infection. The most plausible candidate is M. avium subspecies paratuber...

    Authors: Robert J. Greenstein, Liya Su, Peter S. Fam, Brooke Gurland, Paul Endres and Sheldon T. Brown

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2020 13:96

    Content type: Research note

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  21. The golden color of Staphylococcus aureus is due to the synthesis of carotenoid pigments. In Gram-negative bacteria, Hfq is a global posttranscriptional regulator, but its function in S. aureus remains obscure. T...

    Authors: Wenfeng Liu, Pierre Boudry, Chantal Bohn and Philippe Bouloc

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2020 13:63

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  22. This study examined whether exposure to smoking and vaping cues the urge to smoke or vape. It extends previous studies on first-generation cigalikes (visually similar to cigarettes) and second-generation devic...

    Authors: Anna K. M. Blackwell, Katie De-loyde, Laura A. Brocklebank, Olivia M. Maynard, Theresa M. Marteau, Gareth J. Hollands, Paul C. Fletcher, Angela S. Attwood, Richard W. Morris and Marcus R. Munafò

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2020 13:32

    Content type: Research note

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  23. To report on long-term effects of a cluster randomized controlled kindergarten-based intervention trial, which aimed to increase vegetable intake among Norwegian preschool children (3–5 years at baseline). The...

    Authors: Anne Lene Kristiansen, Anine Christine Medin, Mona Bjelland, Anne Himberg-Sundet, Nanna Lien, René Holst and Lene Frost Andersen

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2020 13:30

    Content type: Research note

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  24. This pilot study aimed to compare the commercial Unyvero ITI multiplex PCR application (U-ITI, Curetis GmbH) with conventional culturing concerning (a) detection of pathogens, (b) time to detection of pathogen...

    Authors: Hege Vangstein Aamot, Bjørn Odd Johnsen and Inge Skråmm

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2019 12:725

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  25. Candida species is implicated in a wide array of clinical infections. Speciation of Candida strains is of prime importance in the epidemiological survey and laboratory diagnosis as there is an upswing of antifung...

    Authors: Sankar Leena Sankari, Krishnan Mahalakshmi and Venkatesan Naveen Kumar

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2019 12:681

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  26. This study sought to determine if there is an association between variants in the apolipoprotein E (ApoE) promoter regions and development of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in military subjects who have been...

    Authors: Richard R. Chapleau, CharLee A. Martin, Summer R. Hughes, James C. Baldwin, John Sladky, Paul M. Sherman and Michael Grinkemeyer

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2019 12:630

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  27. Although studies have shown inconsistent results in terms of prevalence of eating disorders, the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) was used to screen students for abnormal eating behaviors. The results of the sel...

    Authors: Norika Hayakawa, Satoshi Tanaka, Naoko Hirata, Sachiko Ogino and Norio Ozaki

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2019 12:613

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  28. Fetal macrosomia is a major risk factor for shoulder dystocia, which can lead to birth asphyxia, maternal and neonatal traumatic injuries, and perinatal death. If macrosomia is diagnosed in the antenatal perio...

    Authors: Tess Cruickshank, Tu’uhevaha J. Kaitu’u-Lino, Ping Cannon, Alesia Harper, Tuong-Vi Nguyen, Kirsten M. Dane, Anna L. Middleton, Valerie P. Kyritsis, Roxanne Hastie, Stephen Tong, Susan P. Walker and Teresa M. MacDonald

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2019 12:587

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  29. Glyphosate (N-phosphonomethyl glycine) and its commercial herbicide formulations have been shown to exert toxicity via various mechanisms. It has been asserted that glyphosate substitutes for glycine in polypepti...

    Authors: Michael N. Antoniou, Armel Nicolas, Robin Mesnage, Martina Biserni, Francesco V. Rao and Cristina Vazquez Martin

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2019 12:494

    Content type: Research note

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  30. We conducted a trial embedded within the German National Cohort comparing the responses to study invitations sent in recycled envelopes of grey color vs. envelopes of white color. We analyzed paradata for reac...

    Authors: Malte Langeheine, Hermann Pohlabeln, Wolfgang Ahrens, Kathrin Günther and Stefan Rach

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2019 12:468

    Content type: Research note

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  31. The genetic spectrum of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in middle-eastern Saudi’s is still elusive. To this end, we investigated an association between rs693421, rs2499601 and their haplotypes at chromosome...

    Authors: Altaf A. Kondkar, Taif A. Azad, Tahira Sultan, Faisal A. Al-Mobarak, Hatem Kalantan and Saleh A. Al-Obeidan

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2019 12:453

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

  32. Consumption of fish/seafood is clearly linked to higher mercury levels in human tissue samples. However, correlations between methylmercury (MeHg) intakes calculated from dietary surveys and mercury body burde...

    Authors: Guillaume Pelletier, Yong-Lai Feng, Karen Leingartner and Paleah Black

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2019 12:369

    Content type: Research note

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  34. Circulating microRNAs are promising diagnostics and prognostics biomarkers in a wide variety of diseases. However, there is a critical reproducibility challenge, which in part may be due to preanalytical facto...

    Authors: Helle Glud Binderup, Jonna Skov Madsen, Claus Lohman Brasen, Kim Houlind and Rikke Fredslund Andersen

    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2019 12:261

    Content type: Research note

    Published on:

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