Cultivating Disability Arts in Ontario

Although Deaf and disability arts has been practiced under this name since the 1970s in Canada, within the last 15 years it has begun to be recognized as its own field of arts practice and production by arts councils and cultural funding bodies (Gorman 2007). Increased funding has accelerated the production of Deaf and disability art and has increased attention from arts organizations and audiences alike. With this leveling-up of Deaf and disability arts comes the advancement of a discourse specific to this sector, one that includes conversations about how we make arts accessible and how we blend accessibility with aesthetics and curatorial practices, about the development of distinct disability, crip, Mad, Deaf aesthetics, and about the role the arts play, and have always played, within the achievement of disability rights and justice

Regioisomeric Polythiophene Derivatives: Synthesis and Structure-Property Relationships for Organic Electronic Devices

Three types of tail-to-tail (PDCBTTT), head-to-tail (PDCBTHT), and head-to-head (PDCBTHH) regioisomeric polythiophene copolymers were synthesized by modification of the substitution positions of their alkoxycarbonyl side-chains. Chain conformation, and optical, electrochemical, morphological, and charge-transport characteristics of the polymers were significantly influenced by their regiochemistry. PDCBTHH showed an amorphous morphology due to strong steric hindrance between its head-to-head alkoxycarbonyl side-chains, resulting in the poorest performance in organic solar cells and transistors among three types. PDCBTHT had a regiorandom structure with both head-to-tail and tail-to-head linkages in a polymer chain. As determined by field-effect mobility measurements, a highly regioregular and planar PDCBTTT exhibited the highest hole mobility (mu = 0.065 cm(2) V(-1)s(-1)), which was two orders of magnitude higher than that of the regiorandom PDCBTHT. The highest photovoltaic performance was also measured for PDCBTTT:a fullerene acceptor (PC71BM), by maintaining the packed structures of pristine PDCBTTT polymers in the blend with PC71BM. Altering the topology of alkoxycarbonyl side-chains of the copolymers resulted in significant differences in crystalline morphologies and electrical properties and thus should be carefully considered in the molecular design of organic semiconductors