Myofilaments are the rigid protein filaments within myofibrils, which are responsible for the creation of tension during a contraction. The two types of myofilaments are actin and myosin.

These are discussed a bit more in-depth later on, but it will help to have a basic outline of their structure in mind, and how that structure might dictate it’s functioning.

Here’s the set-up from a more mechanical perspective:

Skeletal muscle is the type everyone thinks about in casual conversation about musculature. It is voluntary, i.e. responsible for our conscious movements, and striated.

Cardiac muscle tissue is, as you would expect, the tissue which makes up the heart.

Like smooth muscle, it is also involuntary. However, contrary to smooth muscle, it is striated.

Smooth muscle tissue is sometimes called involuntary muscle is named after the fact that it is unstriated. Smooth muscle is responsible for all the unconscious movements that happen in our body throughout the day. It can be found in:

• Blood vessels
• Bladder
• Gastrointestinal tract
• Ciliary muscles

Etc..

Here

The abstract for this study can be found here

Check out this meta-analysis here

This is a point which is agreed upon almost universally by the parties of interest in this conflict. Furthermore, the Human Rights Watch released a report recently, which details their reasoning for concluding that Assad, or at least government combatants, are responsible for the attack.

The chemical weapons convention is a big deal, as it is by far the most internationally agreed upon weapons convention. For this reason alone, it’s extremely important to preserve it as a legitimate, global disarmament precedent.

Despite this precedent, there comes a point in the international development of weapons technology, of which the U.S. is at least 20 years ahead of the closest competition, where American citizens should be asking themselves, just how much more devastating can 70 year old weapons be compared to current technology?

A quick peak at the map of confirmed drone strikes clearly shows a similar inability to make a distinction between soldier and infant. Of course there is plenty more technology out there that is just as destructive, but disarmament has almost always been the point at which the U.S. falls short of it’s role as international taste-makers…except for when it benefits us politically.