This thesis is the study of the role and regulation of the external audit in the UK and US. It argues that the current audit model is fundamentally flawed, which has a negative impact on the quality of financial audits. This research contributes to the debate on external auditing by suggesting a free-standing legal re-conceptualization of the audit model, which aims to improve the quality of audits and reduce opportunity for accounting fraud. The research findings are drawn from qualitative analysis of legal and financial accounting sources. The thesis consists of three main themes. Firstly, it provides a comprehensive analysis of the regulatory framework for auditing by looking at why, how and by whom audit is regulated. Secondly, it analyses numerous flaws inherent in the current audit model. The focus throughout the thesis is on problems relating to auditors' independence, deficiencies in the spheres of legal, professional and social accountability of auditors, and excessive concentration of the audit market. Thirdly, following the analysis of various theoretical and international audit arrangements, the thesis suggests a new audit model. A key function in this model would be played by an external, public body - the Public Auditing Board, which would be in charge of appointment and remuneration of auditors carrying out audits in the public interest. It is submitted that moving audits to the public sector is desirable in order to introduce genuinely autonomous auditors, to provide better quality of audits and to restore public confidence in capital markets.

An investigation in to a novel pivot point free external cavity tunable laser (PPI ECTL). Existing external cavity tunable lasers are constructed using tunable optics, such as Bragg gratings to manipulate the cavity length. These elements although functional provide instability with prolonged use as they are defined by a centre of rotation or pivot point. The aim of this research was to provide a lab demonstrator of a new concept tunable laser based on conventional designs. The novel approach to the system design was in the removal of a defined pivot point, whilst still maintaining a moving optical component. The demonstration system will investigate the improvements upon traditional methods of tuning whilst providing greater tuning range and stability. The main defect of conventional systems was the reliance on the defined pivot point of the movable optics. By changing the position of the pivot point, the cavity length will change and the laser mode will change or hop to a side mode. This was known as a mode hop. The objective of the research was to design and implement a durable ECTL with a large tuning range (>200GHz), mode hop free tuning, fibre coupled, circular output beam and a wavelength in the visible. Design and production of a prototype PPI ECT laser that demonstrate the process of mode hop free tuning without the need of a defined pivot point. The impact of the research may lead in to the integration in to lower cost and more reliable commercial applications.

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A new scheme of fabricating the tapered hyperbolic-end fibers (THEFs)microlenses using unique etching and fusion techniques is proposed. TheTHEFs were fabricated by symmetrically tapering the fiber during theetching process and hyperbolically lensing the tip during the fusing process.The tapered hyperbolic microlenses have demonstrated up to 82% couplingefficiency for a laser with an aspect ratio of 1:1.5. The influence of the tapering asymmetry on the coupling has also been investigated experimentally and theoretically. The axially symmetrical taperedmicrolenses of the THEFs showed that far-field profiles were well approximated to a Gaussian profile, while the asymmetric taper had deviated significantly from a Gaussian profile. A theoretical analysis illuminated a larger wavefront transformation of the hemispherical microlenses. A lesser phase aberration of the normalized optical path difference (OPD) was found in the hyperbolic-end lens, and that resulted in more than 2 dB improvement in the coupling efficiency when compared to the currently available hemispherical microlenses. The high-coupling performance of the hyperbolic microlens was due to an improved wavefront matching between the laser and the fiber, which was one of the most important contributions in this study.The 1.55 µm fiber grating external cavity lasers (FGECLs), packaged with THEF microlens for coupling the fiber grating external cavity, have been investigated for different combinations of coupling efficiency (£b) and Bragg reflectivity (Rg). Various tapered hyperbolic-end fiber microlenses with different coupling efficiency have been fabricated for this study. The FGL of higher £b = 72% and Rg = 0.52 has a stronger resonant feedback as the spectral output showed a single longitudinal mode with the side-mode-suppression-ratio (SMSR) greater than 45dB, a high output power of greater than 5mW, and a lower threshold current. However, for the case of £b = 68% and Rg = 0.35, the FGL exhibited a more stable SMSR against the variation of pumping current and temperature. Numerical simulations have also been performed on the SMSR at different coupling efficiencies and Bragg reflectivity for the FGLs. The high performance of the FGLs can be achieved through a higher coupling efficiency between a laser diode and a single-mode fiber. The calculated SMSR showed an excellent agreement with the measured data.

The coupling of Fabry-Perot laser and fiber-grating for single frequency operation was studied experimentally and theoretically. A 1.55

ABSTRACT The spectral characteristics for non-AR coated fiber grating lasers were studied theoretically and experimentally. The lensed fiber was used to improve coupling efficiency between laser and fiber. The tapered fibers were fabricated by using the mixture of HF and oil with different density to increase etched taper angle. The coupling efficiency could reach more than 60%. A single-mode operation for a fiber grating external cavity laser (FGECL) was simulated. The results showed that the SMSR, emitted power, and wavelength drift were dependent on the related device parameters. Our calculations showed that the strong current-dependent SMSR oscillation was from the mode selection by the fiber grating external cavity and the heating effect in the Fabry-Perot (FP) laser. A 1.55mm FP laser chip that one facet was coated a high reflectivity (HR) of 90% and another facet was uncoated. In our experiment and simulation of FGECL, the reflectivity of fiber gratings were 50% and 70% and 86%, and the length of external cavity was about 0.9cm. The measured result of FGECL showed that the side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) was more than 35dB and the output power was larger than 1.5mW at the injected current 2 to 3 times of threshold current. Furthermore, the spectrums of fiber grating external cavity lasers were studied in order to understand the external laser characteristics.

This thesis presents work on analytical reasoning with external representations (ERs) using problems similar to those used in the US GRE college-entrance examination. The work investigates the factors associated with effective ER use in situations where subjects select, construct and reason with their own ERs. Practically all previous work has tended to focus solely upon performance rather than process. In this thesis the emphasis is upon cognitive processes during the entire time-course of reasoning with ERs, from problem comprehension through to answer selection. A background to the work is provided by 2 comprehensive reviews of: 1.) previous research on ERs and reasoning and 2.) the cognitive and semantic properties of ERs. Results from three empirical studies are reported. The first study examined a large corpus of 'workscratchings' produced by subjects as they solved paper and pencil-based analytical reasoning problems under test conditions. The workscratching ERs showed great diversity between and within subjects and across a range of problems. They included lists, various kinds of table, set diagrams, node and arc diagrams, first-order and propositioned logic, plans and natural language. It is shown that problem-solving performance is related to the type of ER used in the solution. The second study utilised a computer-based system (switchERI). The system administered analytical reasoning problems and provided a. range of ER construction environments for the subject to choose and switch between. User-system interactions were recorded dynamically during problem solving. This methodology permitted microanalyses of the cognitive events at each stage during the time-course of problem solving. A process account of analytical reasoning with ERs is developed in which five major stages are identified - problem comprehension, ER selection, ER construction, read-off from the ER and answer selection/responding. A range of common slips and misconceptions are identified at each stage. The results show, inter alia, that subjects whose responses are consistent with their ERs perform better than subjects whose responses are inconsistent with their ERs even if the ER is partially incorrect. The data from the workscratching analysis and switchERI study informed the design of' switchERII, a second system. SwitchERII incorporates a. representation of the semantics of Euler's Circles, dynamically parses the user's representation and provides feedback and advice. A third study was conducted with the switchERII system. Few, if any, studies to date have attempted to relate subjects' prior knowledge of ER formalisms to their reasoning performance. Subjects' prior knowledge of ER formalisms was assessed in both switchER studies. It was observed that subjects' performance on representation interpretation tasks does not necessarily predict their performance in conditions where they select and construct their own representations. The reasons for the decoupling are discussed. Data from all three studies show that subjects often utilise multiple representations in their solutions, either concurrently or serially via. ER switching. Two distinctly different types of switching were observed. One kind ('thrashing') is associated with poorer performance and reflects less comprehensive prior knowledge, inability to select au appropriate ER and hazy problem comprehension. Judicious switching, on the other hand, is associated with high levels of problem comprehension and skilled matching of the ERs' properties to changing task demands. It is claimed that effective reasoning with ERs involves complex interactions between at least three factors: (a.) within-subject variables such as the subject's representational repertoire (prior knowledge) and representational modality preferences (cognitive style); (b.) skill at overcoming a variety of barriers to comprehension and an ability to discern the salient attributes and characteristics of different problem types and (c.) an understanding of the semantic and cognitive properties of graphical and non-graphical ERs coupled with an ability to match those properties to the problem's task demands. It is suggested that the role of externalisation in reasoning with ERs may be to facilitate the swapping of information between cognitive subsystems. A mechanism by which the use of diagrammatic ERs may facilitate self-explanation is also proposed. The thesis concludes with an argument in favour of a domain-independent 'ER curriculum'. It is suggested that direct instruction in the use of a range of ERs might equip students with wider representational repertoires and hence allow them more scope to indulge their representational preferences. Finally, several directions for future work are proposed. These include extending the representational semantics of switchERII, evaluating various types of system feedback and implementing a mechanism for checking for slips during read-off from ERs.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-69).