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Since 2017
How to Science
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Definitions of confusing scientific terms
From How to Science
You know that annoying thing scientific papers do when you’re trying to understand them? Yes, that. The word usage which confuses everyone into thinking it says something when it, in fact, does not. These papers are riddled with terms like “essential” and “significant”, but what does it all mean?
In the world of science, these words do not mean what you think they mean, Inigo.
From the book, Grove of Wisdom, I give you knowledge of the language scientists use. This will be continuously updated to reflect the desire of translation to common tongue.
How to Science
Scientific literature can be a drag to get through, and what’s more, when the authors don’t want the audience to know what it really says, they resort to using conflicting and confusing terminologies that contradict one another, which ends up saying absolutely bupkis. This is a major challenge even for those in the field. If a scientist can’t glean anything from a text, then that text is not scientific at all, it’s jargon in a jumble. This is, unfortunately, the most common type of scientific article one will run into, and makes for a heck of a time trying to learn anything at all in or out of the medical field.
No one wants to read that.
I shall make every attempt to clarify medical and scientific literature for my readers, without bias, and I make it perfectly clear right now that I will not use junk science.
Common terms and what they actually mean
Junk science (1)
1. faulty scientific information or research, especially when used to advance special interests. Ergo: Any scientific procedure which uses methods which cannot prove a point because of multiple factors; [e.g. using soy oil, lard, refined flour, and sucrose for a “high-fat diet”, or using a 4:1 formula to simulate the Ketogenic lifestyle]; claims which are proven false by science but continue to be perpetuated while supported by poorly executed studies.
Essential
This has multiple terms often confused and used to denounce something as fluff or as invalid, and so it will have multiple explanations.
1. Of a nutrient (2); noun ~ A nutrient which an organism must obtain from the environment or from a dietary source since the organism is unable to synthesize it (or can produce but inadequately).
2. Of an oil (2:2); noun; also: volatile oil ~ A substance of oily consistency and feel especially one that is derived from a plant tissue (in contrast to fatty oil that does not evaporate when exposed to air and saponifies [turns into soap or alcohol]).
Significant (3)
Adjective ~ Probably caused by something other than mere chance [did not happen by accident]; e.g. statistically significant correlation between vitamin deficiency and disease.
*this definition is used specifically for scientific text.
Preferred (4)
Verb ~ Choose rather than; *to give priority over; to put forward or advance, as in rank or office; [this term is arbitrarily used, because the body doesn’t necessarily “like” something you are putting into it, especially when it comes to toxin priority. The body will automatically place the most toxic substance at the top of the list of things to metabolize, thus why alcohol is “preferred” over glucose, and why for the same reason glucose is “preferred” over fat. It is selecting the more toxic compound to get rid of, nothing more—glucose above a certain serum level is toxic and so is the excessive insulin it stimulates (diabetes, atherosclerosis, weight gain, etc). In terms of biology, the definition for law about “prefer”* is the closest to the scientific terminology].
In vitro (5)
Adjective & adverb; BIOLOGY ~ (of a process) performed or taking place in a test tube, culture dish, or elsewhere outside a living organism; [this procedure works only with specific methods as for chemical reactions and is not very useful for figuring out what is happening inside the body. A vast majority of in vitro experiments with substances resulted in negative effects happening how the science team hypothesized, then the exact opposite happening when done on living organisms. These are the types of experiments most referenced by nutrition guidelines and promoters of the conventional nutrition and health practices. These experiments should be retracted after in vivo finds them to be incorrect, but they are not].
In vivo (6)
Adverb & adjective; BIOLOGY ~ (of a process) performed or taking place in a living organism; [this procedure works for actual credible scientific data only when done correctly and with correct procedures. Injecting certain compounds directly into the bloodstream like fat does not work because that is not how fat is processed by the body in a realistic setting. Eating, drinking, breathing, and biochemical processes involving...everything...counts as in vivo. Protein from the eyeball when exposed to UV radiation in vitro (the eyeball goo was in a petri dish, not in an actual eyeball) coagulated and developed cataracts, giving the illusion that this is what causes cataracts—except for humans who are in sun 90% of their lives. In vivo, UV radiation contributed to eye development and health, and brightness enhanced these effects. The NIH optical department is still blaming sunlight despite conflicting evidence].
De novo (7)
Adverb & adjective ~ starting from the beginning; anew.
Hyperresponsive (8) (person is hyper-responder)
Adjective ~ Characterized by an abnormal degree of responsiveness (as to a physical or emotional stimulus); [“hyper-responder” is not in common usage, but is sometimes used for medical literature].
Hyporesponsive (9) (person is hypo-responder)
Adjective ~ Characterized by a diminished degree of responsiveness (as to a physical or emotional stimulus); [“hypo-responder” is not in common usage, but is sometimes used for medical literature].
Inversely associated/related with (10)
(in research) an inverse relationship between two variables. As one variable increases, the other decreases; [contradictory statement—means prevents or reverses whatever is being caused; commonly confused by people when the study is about specific topics such as fat intake or sun exposure].
Paradoxically (11)
Adverb ~ in a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory way
*paradox (11:2); noun ~ 1 : a tenet contrary to received opinion; 2 a : a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true; b : a self-contradictory statement that at first seems true; c : an argument that apparently derives self-contradictory conclusions by valid deduction from acceptable premises; 3 : one (such as a person, situation, or action) having seemingly contradictory qualities or phases; [in essence, this is a term used when the outcome was not what the scientists wanted or expected, and they are playing innocent or really were that mistaken].
Atherosclerosis (12)
Noun ~ An arteriosclerosis [the thickening and hardening of the walls of the arteries (12:2)] characterized by atheromatous deposits [an abnormal fatty deposit in an artery (12:3)] in and fibrosis [buildup of fibrous healing tissue due to inflammation or injury (12:4)] of the inner layer of the arteries; [in essence, it’s a mass of mostly fibrous scar tissue with mostly unsaturated fat (12:5) and calcium, and some cholesterol and other bloodborne debris jammed in there; the cholesterol is there as a tissue repair and not associated with cardiovascular disease (12:6)].
References
1. “Junk science.” Dictionary.com, n.d. Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary. Web. Accessed 05 July 2018.
2. “Essential nutrient.” Biology-online.org. Biology Online Dictionary, n.d. Web. Accessed 05 July 2018; 2:2: “Essential oil.” Biology-online.org. Biology Online Dictionary, n.d. Web. Accessed 05 July 2018.
3. “Significant.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. Accessed 5 July 2018.
4. “Preferred.” Dictionary.com, n.d. Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary. Web. Accessed 05 July 2018.
5. Multiple sources—found in the Google Search dictionary; From Dictionary.com: “In vitro.” Dictionary.com, n.d. Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary. Web. Accessed 22 July 2018.
6. Multiple sources—found in the Google Search dictionary; From Dictionary.com: “In vivo.” Dictionary.com, n.d. Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary. Web. Accessed 22 July 2018.
7. Multiple sources—found in the Google Search dictionary; From Dictionary.com: “De novo.” Dictionary.com, n.d. Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary. Web. Accessed 22 July 2018.
8. “Hyperresponsive.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 7 July 2018.
9. “Hyporesponsive.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 7 July 2018.
10. “Negative relationship.” Dictionary.com, n.d. Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary. Web. Accessed 22 July 2018.
11. Multiple sources—found in the Google Search dictionary; From Merriam-Webster: “Paradoxical.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 22 July 2018; 11:2: “Paradox.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 22 July 2018.
12. Multiple sources: “Atherosclerosis.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 22 July 2018; 12:2: “Atherosclerosis—Also called: Arteriosclerosis.” MedlinePlus. Web page. (Updated 2018): medlineplus.gov/atherosclerosis.html; 12:3: “Atheroma.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 22 July 2018; 12:4: “Fibrosis.” Collinsdictionary.com. Web. 22 July 2018; 12:5: C.V. Felton, et al. Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and composition of human aortic plaques. The Lancet; Volume 344, Issue 8931, 29 October 1994, Pages 1195-1196; Stachowska, E., Dołęgowska, B., Chlubek, D. et al. Dietary trans fatty acids and composition of human atheromatous plaques. Eur J Nutr (2004) 43: 313; doi.org/10.1007/s00394-004-0479-x; 12:6: DuBroff R. Cholesterol paradox: a correlate does not a surrogate make. BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine 2017;22:15-19