This thesis is about education in Xinjiang, the choices available to students and parents, and the factors taken into account when making these choices. The subject of language tuition and use has increasingly assumed a central position in the resentment felt by much of the Uyghur population of Xinjiang towards the Chinese government and the Han population. The long-term, policy-driven increase in the use of Mandarin in schools in Xinjiang has accelerated in the last decade as those which have previously used the Uyghur language for the majority of teaching have steadily been converted into bilingual institutions. This change has significantly reduced the linguistic options for Uyghur parents, as ‘bilingual' schools are substantively similar to Chinese-language schools. Mandarin, as the primary language of government and trade in China, is widely recognised by Uyghur parents and students as essential to career success in contemporary Xinjiang and the Uyghur language is not existentially threatened. Nonetheless, this change is lamented by many, even those who chose bilingual or Chinese-language education for their own children. This ethnographic work, largely set in the regional capital of Urumqi, explores the disparity between materially self-interested choices and this sentiment. Contextualising the subject of education against the background of the Uyghur people's general interaction with the Chinese people and state, the thesis contends that there is a communally-maintained avoidance of all influences perceived to be Chinese, and that this avoidance is best understood in ethical terms. Utilising the work of Alasdair Macintyre (1981), it argues that the maintenance of difference from the Han, in the context of a narrative understanding of history which represents all Chinese influence as destructive or dangerous, has come to be understood amongst the Uyghur as virtuous in itself. With evidence drawn from 18 months of fieldwork in Xinjiang and interviews with parents, students and educators, it examines how attempts to maintain this virtue play out against other values and concerns in the choices they make about schooling.

Pre-mRNA splicing by the spliceosome requires the precise and regulated efforts of the five snRNAs (U1, U2, U4, U5, and U6) and numerous associated proteins. Following assembly and activation of the spliceosome, two consecutive reactions result in intron removal and exon ligation from pre-mRNA substrates. It has been established that several members of the DExH/D-box family of helicases act transiently on the spliceosome prior to the chemical steps to authorize the successive reactions by hydrolyzing ATP and consequently inducing structural rearrangements. While it has been suggested that these changes produced in the structure of the spliceosome result in optimal positioning of the reactive species, the mechanisms and products of these reorganizations remain uncharacterized. The work presented here describes the genetic strategy for accumulating and purifying spliceosomes arrested in vivo, during the catalytic steps of the splicing cycle. Using these complexes, we have defined the components required to proceed through the first and second steps of splicing, in addition to the factors required for the release of the spliced message. Analysis of these functional, synchronized particles has also allowed us to define a function for Prp2p in initiating the first step of pre-mRNA splicing. Our data suggest that Prp2p may act in an ATP-independent manner to remodel the spliceosome prior to using its ATPase function to displace the SF3 complex. We propose that the SF3 complex, in addition to its role in identification of the branchpoint, also acts to sequester the reactive 2’OH of the branchpoint adenosine to prevent premature reactivity. Following the two catalytic steps of the splicing cycle, the spliceosome must disassemble and recycle its snRNPs for further rounds of splicing. The essential U6 snRNP component Prp24p, mediates one of the early assembly events - the annealing between the U4 and U6 snRNAs. We have discovered that although Prp24p is essential for viability, its function(s) can be bypassed by overexpressing the U6 snRNA. Additionally, biochemical characterizations of various forms of the U4/U6 snRNP provide evidence that Prp24p must be released before other components of the U4/U6 snRNP are permitted to interact and facilitate tri-snRNP formation. / text

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Le Modèle Standard, qui régit la physique des particules, a été jusqu'à présent confirmé par l'expérience. Cependant, les questions qu'il laisse en suspens ont conduit à proposer plusieurs modèles permettant son extension. L'un de ces modèles postulant l'existence d'une quatrième famille de fermions permet de résoudre certaines des lacunes du Modèle Standard. Ce travail, effectué dans le cadre de l'expérience ATLAS au LHC, présente des méthodes permetttant de découvrir le quark up de quatrième génératition u4 produit par paire qui se désintègre de manière semi-leptonique. Une méthode de calibration de l'énergie des jets ainsi qu'une méthode d'évaluation de la résolution de cette énergie sont d'abord présentées car essentielles pour des mesures précises. Nous décrivons ensuite une méthode pour découvrir le quark u4 tout en évaluant le potentiel de découverte. Enfin une mesure de la masse de ce quark est alors réalisée dans l'hypothèse où une découverte a été effectuée.

Le Mod��le Standard, qui r��git la physique des particules, a ��t�� jusqu'�� pr��sent confirm�� par l'exp��rience. Cependant, les questions qu'il laisse en suspens ont conduit �� proposer plusieurs mod��les permettant son extension. L'un de ces mod��les postulant l'existence d'une quatri��me famille de fermions permet de r��soudre certaines des lacunes du Mod��le Standard. Ce travail, effectu�� dans le cadre de l'exp��rience ATLAS au LHC, pr��sente des m��thodes permetttant de d��couvrir le quark up de quatri��me g��n��ratition u4 produit par paire qui se d��sint��gre de mani��re semileptonique. Une m��thode de calibration de l'��nergie des jets ainsi qu'une m��thode d'��valuation de la r��solution de cette ��nergie sont d'abord pr��sent��es car essentielles pour des mesures pr��cises. Nous d��crivons ensuite une m��thode pour d��couvrir le quark u4 tout en ��valuant le potentiel de d��couverte. Enfin une mesure de la masse de ce quark est alors r��alis��e dans l'hypoth��se o�� une d��couverte a ��t�� effectu��e.

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