Well, considering most of us are not in a position to have access to studies, we probably wont find data. Does that mean it doesn't exist? I don't know. All we get from you are snippets and your interpretations. When I was able to find one of the actual studies you referenced, I found that they came to very different conclusions than what you were presenting here. The study I found made perfect sense in its context - I found nothing to disagree with there.

I know many times when I'm standing, I am doing what you show in the graph above - especially on flat, steady-state cycling. I know that when I am sprinting, or climbing something steep and standing, the dynamics change dramatically. There's standing and there is standing and cranking up a 8% grade or a full-on sprint. I have pulled up enough to come unclipped from my pedals. That is significantly more than just getting my leg out of the way.

When you say "Basically, at no time are you actually pulling the pedal upwards while standing." I don't think you prove anything with the accompanying graph because the context of that graph is not given. Was that done on a trainer at steady-state? If so, I would say, like the other study, I probably agree with all of their conclusion too. Unless you have some thing that clearly states that it was measured in a steep climb or in a sprint while standing, I'm going to assume that my own observations are correct. For cruising along - I completely agree with everything you have presented. There is no significant "pulling" happing in that kind of scenario, even when standing.