PC-based Software Research Articles

Activity concentration of indoor radon and its short-lived progeny (218Po, 214Pb, and 214Po) and their effect on atmospheric ionization rate in Sana'a, Yemen

Exposure to ionizing radiation inside houses, especially radionuclides of radon and its progeny, poses serious health risks that can be exacerbated when inhaled as a result of interaction with human lung tissue. Also, air ionization is mainly due to these radionuclides. Therefore, accurate measurements of radon activity concentrations and its short-lived progeny are required to assess dose and environmental pollution and estimate ionization rates in indoor environments. For this purpose, we employed a previously tested and approved reliable method, following the three-count procedure. This method is based on airborne radon progeny sampling on polycarbonate membrane filters and alpha counting using a passive α-dosimetry technique with CR-39 detectors. The method also relies on a PC-based software we developed for solving mathematical equations and calculating all the necessary physical quantities. In this study, the concentrations of radon and individual short-lived radon progeny were measured in 20 houses in Sana'a, Yemen. Measurement conditions and meteorological variables were considered. The average activity concentrations of 222Rn, Equilibrium-Equivalent Concentration (EEC), 218Po, 214 Pb, and 214Po were 73.1 ± 6.0, 29.2 ± 2.4, 44.4 ± 3.6, 30.5 ± 2.5, and 23.2 ± 1.9 Bq.m-3, respectively. The calculated average unattached fractions f1(218Po), f2(214 Pb), and fp were found to be 0.24, 0.04, and 0.07 % respectively. The annual average values of ion-pair production rate caused by 222Rn and their progeny and air ion concentration, were 27.25 ions.cm-3s-1 and 1829 ions.cm-3 respectively. The annual effective dose was estimated to be 1.93 ± 0.16 mSv.y−1, well lower than the recommended 10 mSv.y−1.

Design of an Embedded Energy Management System for Li–Po Batteries Based on a DCC-EKF Approach for Use in Mobile Robots

In mobile robotics, since no requirements have been defined regarding accuracy for Battery Management Systems (BMS), standard approaches such as Open Circuit Voltage (OCV) and Coulomb Counting (CC) are usually applied, mostly due to the fact that employing more complicated estimation algorithms requires higher computing power; thus, the most advanced BMS algorithms reported in the literature are developed and verified by laboratory experiments using PC-based software. The objective of this paper is to describe the design of an autonomous and versatile embedded system based on an 8-bit microcontroller, where a Dual Coulomb Counting Extended Kalman Filter (DCC-EKF) algorithm for State of Charge (SOC) estimation is implemented; the developed prototype meets most of the constraints for BMSs reported in the literature, with an energy efficiency of 94% and an error of SOC accuracy that varies between 2% and 8% based on low-cost components.

Applied aerial spectroscopy: A case study on remote sensing of an ancient and semi-natural woodland.

An area of ancient and semi-natural woodland (ASNW) has been investigated by applied aerial spectroscopy using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with multispectral image (MSI) camera. A novel normalised difference spectral index (NDSI) algorithm was developed using principal component analysis (PCA). This novel NDSI was then combined with a simple segmentation method of thresholding and applied for the identification of native tree species as well as the overall health of the woodland. Using this new approach allowed the identification of trees at canopy level, across 7.4 hectares (73,934 m2) of ASNW, as oak (53%), silver birch (37%), empty space (9%) and dead trees (1%). This UAV derived data was corroborated, for its accuracy, by a statistically valid ground-level field study that identified oak (47%), silver birch (46%) and dead trees (7.4%). This simple innovative approach, using a low-cost multirotor UAV with MSI camera, is both rapid to deploy, was flown around 100 m above ground level, provides useable high resolution (5.3 cm / pixel) data within 22 mins that can be interrogated using readily available PC-based software to identify tree species. In addition, it provides an overall oversight of woodland health and has the potential to inform a future woodland regeneration strategy.

Estimation of unattached and aerosol-attached activities of airborne short-lived radon progeny in indoor environments

Inhalation of the airborne short-lived radon progeny is regarded as the most crucial way of internal exposure to the natural radiation dose delivered to the human lung. In this respect, this study aims to determine the unattached and aerosol-attached activities of radon progeny and to estimate some important physical parameters employed to assess the radiological impact of this radiation on humans. For this purpose, radioactive aerosol samples collected on polycarbonate membrane filters to measure total alpha activity by passive alpha dosimetric technique using CR-39 detectors in sixteen different locations including some houses and workplaces in El Jadida city, in Morocco. In addition, the room-specific parameters and aerosol physical processes that affect the unattached and attached activity concentrations were determined. The obtained experimental results by the three-count method and room model parameters were used as input data on a developed PC-based software that we have developed to solve mathematical equations and calculate required physical quantities. Accordingly, the individual activities of radon progeny namely 218Po, 214Pb, and 214Po as well as radon activity concentration were determined. Simultaneously, the unattached and aerosol-attached activity concentrations (Cju and Cja) of radon progeny were calculated based on the room model calculation. Consequently, some radiological quantities used in the calculation of the lung dose were estimated. The results showed that the indoor radon activity concentration in different targeted locations ranges between 38 and 143 Bq. m−3 with an average value of 84.8 ± 9.5 Bq. m−3. The average obtained values of the equilibrium-equivalent concentration (Ceq), unattached fraction (fp), and equilibrium factor (F) at low and good ventilation rates change respectively from (24 Bq. m−3, 0.08, and 0.25) to (34 Bq. m−3, 0.02, and 0.41). Under normal environmental conditions, the average obtained values of Ceq, fp, and F, in houses and at workplaces were (17 Bq. m−3, 0.07, and 0.25) and (32 Bq. m−3, 0.04, and 0.35) respectively. Depending on the different aerosol conditions and obtained values of unattached fraction fp, the calculated average values of dose conversion factors (DCFs) were 8.70 mSv.WLM−1 and 11 mSv.WLM−1 in houses and workplaces respectively. These values were in good agreement with the recommended values by ICRP, which are in the order of 9 mSv.WLM−1 and 12 mSv.WLM−1 for houses and workplaces respectively.

Experience Finding MS Project Alternatives at CERN

As of March 2019, CERN is no longer eligible for academic licences of Microsoft products. For this reason, CERN IT started a series of task forces to respond to the evolving requirements of the user community with the goal of reducing as much as possible the need for Microsoft licensed software. This exercise was an opportunity to understand better the user requirements for different types of applications. Here we focus on MS Project, the dominant PCbased project management software, which has been used at CERN for many years. There were over 1,500 installations at CERN when the task force started, with a heterogeneous pool of users in terms of required functionality, area of work and expertise. This paper will present an evaluation of users’ needs and whether they could be fulfilled with cheaper and less advanced solutions for project management and scheduling. Moreover, selected alternatives, their deployment and lessons learned will be described in more detail. Finally, it will present the approach on how to communicate, train and migrate users to the proposed solutions.

Applications of high-speed digital pulse acquisition and software-defined electronics (SDE) in advanced nuclear teaching laboratories

There is a new generation of high-speed programmable pulse digitizers available now from several vendors at modest cost. These digitizers in tandem with on-board or post-processing software combine to produce a Software-Defined Electronics (SDE) system that can be effectively used in several advanced physics teaching lab experiments. In particular, as we will demonstrate, they are particularly well suited for nuclear-physics related experiments, often replacing many analog electronics modules. Appropriate on-board SDE can generate full or partial integrals of the pulses, pulse-shape characterization (PSD) data, coincidence signal indication, fast timing, or other information. Likewise, external PC-based SDE post-processing software can readily be developed and applied by undergraduate students or instructors using one of several different software languages available: matlab, python, LabVIEW, root, basic, etc. As demonstrated here, an SDE-based system is a cost-effective substitute for many dedicated NIM or CAMAC electronics modules as this requires only a single digitizer module and a computer. A single digitizer with SDE is easily adapted for use in many different experiments. Applications of various high- and low-speed digitizers with SDE for many other types of physics teaching lab experiments will also be discussed.

THE ELECTRONIC FRAILTY INDEX BASED ON THE COMPREHENSIVE GERIATRIC ASSESSMENT: DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING

Frailty is characterized by loss of biological reserves across multiple systems and associated with increased risks of adverse outcomes. A Frailty Index (FI) constructed using items from the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) has been validated in geriatric medicine settings to estimate the level of frailty. Traditionally, the CGA used a paper form and the CGA-based FI calculation was a manual process. Here, we reported building of an electronic version of the assessment on personal computers (PC), i.e., standalone eFI-CGA, to benefit frailty assessment at points of care. The eFI-CGA was implemented as a software tool on the WinForms platform. It automated the FI calculation by counting deficits accumulation across multiple domains assessing medical conditions, cognition, balance, and dependency of activities of daily living. Debugging, testing, and optimization were performed to enhance the software performance with respect to automation accuracy (processing algorithm), friendly user interface (user manual and feedback), and data quality control (missing data and value constraints). Systematically-designed simulation dataset and anonymous real-world cases were both applied. The optimized assessment tool resulted in fast and convenient conductance of the CGA, and a 100% accuracy rate of the eFI-CGA automation for up to four decimals. The stand-alone eFI-CGA implementation has provided a PC-based software tool for use by geriatricians and primary and acute care providers, benefiting early detection and management of frailty at points of care for older adults.

SignalMaster Update 2019

SignalMaster is a portable open speech and signal processing system that was developed specifically for researchers interested in developing their own real-time signal processing strategies. The system can be used for a wide range of research applications including development of hearing aid amplification and processing strategies and recording of evoked responses. SignalMaster uses a TMS320C6748 Digital Signal Processor (DSP) and provides two input and two output channels with 32 bit Analog-to-Digital (AD) and Digital-to-Analog (DA) convertors. Lithium-ion batteries provide up to 10 hours of freestanding operation. The system is available in two hardware platforms, the standard SignalMaster and the new SignalMasterLite, more compact and light weight for portable applications. The system may also be used while connected to a personal computer (PC) or Android Table via Bluetooth for additional control of experiments, off-line processing and data storage. A DLL provides functions for user developed applications to communicate with the hardware and be upload C language programs. This allows for different applications to be uploaded in order to reconfigure the processing algorithms being executed for any experiment at any time. DSP, PC-based and Android Table software source code examples provide users with the ability to develop their own user specific applications.

Optimization and Implementation of Wavelet-based Algorithms for Detecting High-voltage Spindles in Neuron Signals

This article presents a microcontroller unit (MCU) based simplified discrete wavelet transform (Sim-DWT) algorithm that can detect high-voltage spindles (HVSs) in local field potential (LFP) signals. The Sim-DWT algorithm operates in an 8-bit MCU, 8MHz operating clock and 16 sample points of buffers to detect HVSs with a frequency range of 5−15Hz. The requirement of only sixteen 8-bit sample points as the window length for calculation and no need for a multiplier render the Sim-DWT easy to implement in an MCU with limited hardware resources. The Sim-DWT is applied in an 8-bit MCU with 6mW power consumption (including IO ports) and was tested for detecting LFP signals in vivo. The design methods and the accuracy of three typical types of mother wavelet functions (Haar, DB4, Morlet) in the Sim-DWT were also tested and compared with those of a PC-based system. The experimental results showed that with appropriately designed cMW functions in the Sim-DWT, HVSs could be detected more accurately than they could be in PC-based software. The present study indicates that the optimized HVS detector (Sim-DWT) can be implemented in an 8-bit MCU with limited hardware resources and is suitable to serve as the digital core in a closed-loop deep brain stimulator microsystem in the future.

An open and flexible digital phase-locked loop for optical metrology.

This paper presents an open and flexible digital phase-locked loop optimized for laser stabilization systems. It is implemented on a cheap and easily accessible FPGA-based digital electronics platform (Red Pitaya) running a customizable open-source firmware. A PC-based software interface allows controlling the platform and optimizing the loop parameters remotely. Several tools are included to allow measurement of quantities of interest smoothly and rapidly. To demonstrate the platform's capabilities, we built a fiber noise canceller over a 400 m fiber link. Noise cancellation was achieved over a 30 kHz bandwidth, a value limited mainly by the delays introduced by the actuator and by the round-trip propagation over the fiber link. We measured a total latency of 565 ns for the platform itself, limiting the theoretically achievable control bandwidth to approximately 225 kHz.

Real-World Patterns of Daytime and Nocturnal Hypoglycemia during Flash Continuous Glucose Monitoring

This study evaluated patterns of daytime and nocturnal hypoglycemia during flash continuous glucose monitoring using the FreeStyle LibreTM system. Users scan the sensor to collect the current glucose, trend, and up to 8 hours of glucose readings which are automatically stored every 15 minutes. The internet-connected PC-based software uploads the de-identified 90-day reader data to a database. De-identified data from September 2014 to September 2017 of all sensors with at least 120 hours of operation were analyzed from 237,747 readers and 1,569,588 sensors worldwide (88% from Europe). Readers were ranked by scan frequency and allocated to 20 equally sized groups. The association of significant hypoglycemia (≤54 mg/dL) and scan rate were analyzed. Users performed a mean (SD) of 13.2 (9.0) glucose scans per 24 hours, with 11.5 (8.1) during the day (06:00-23:00) and 1.7 (1.5) during the night (23:00-06:00). Time in significant hypoglycemia (≤54 mg/dL) decreased from 24.2 to 15.2 minutes/day comparing low with high frequency scanners during the 17-hour day period (p<0.001), with a similar pattern overnight (19.0 and 12.7 minutes/night, p<0.001). When expressed as a proportion of time, hypoglycemia accounted for 2.4 to 1.5% of daytime glucose (for low to high frequency scanners), prevalence of night time hypoglycemia was 4.5 to 3.0%. The benefits of scanning frequently during the day are evident at night time. Disclosure H. Pryor: Employee; Self; Abbott. Employee; Spouse/Partner; Abbott. E.S. Budiman: Employee; Self; Abbott. Stock/Shareholder; Self; Abbott, AbbVie Inc. Y. Xu: Employee; Self; Abbott.

The Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program – Community Edition (BenMAP–CE): A tool to estimate the health and economic benefits of reducing air pollution

A number of software tools exist to estimate the health and economic impacts associated with air quality changes. Over the past 15 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its partners invested substantial time and resources in developing the Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program – Community Edition (BenMAP–CE). BenMAP–CE is a publicly available, PC-based open source software program that can be configured to conduct health impact assessments to inform air quality policies anywhere in the world. The developers coded the platform in C# and made the source code available in GitHub, with the goal of building a collaborative relationship with programmers with expertise in other environmental modeling programs. The team recently improved the BenMAP–CE user experience and incorporated new features, while also building a cadre of analysts and BenMAP–CE training instructors in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

A visually guided beamformer to aid listening in complex acoustic environments

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of recent work on the visually guided hearing aid (VGHA; Kidd et al. JASA 133, EL202). The latest prototype VGHA consists of a lightweight, head-mounted, 18-microphone array combined with PC-based software to create a highly-tuned acoustic beamformer steered in real time by an integrated binocular eye tracker. Recent work on the two main functional sub-components of the VGHA (beamforming and eye-gaze control) focused on the benefits that may be obtained by listeners with hearing loss (and in some cases by listeners with normal hearing) attempting to understand speech masked by one or more competing sounds (such as Gaussian noise or additional speakers). These benefits include improved signal-to-noise ratio under different masked conditions and faster steering (compared to fixed directional amplification steered by head turns). The VGHA may be simulated over headphones by PC-based implementations using HRTFs and an optional external eye-tracker. This has allowed testing a number of variations of beamformer properties and the evaluation of multiple types of sound processing strategies including the incorporation of natural binaural cues. Overall, the VGHA holds considerable promise for improving selective listening in a variety of complex listening conditions.

Change in eyelid parameters after orbital decompression in thyroid-associated orbitopathy

PurposeTo investigate quantitative changes in eyelid parameters after orbital decompression surgery in thyroid-associated orbitopathy using the PC-based program, Eyelid Analysis Software (EAS).MethodsThis study included 202 eyes of 109 thyroid-associated orbitopathy patients. Digital photographs of the patients in primary gaze were taken just before and after orbital decompression surgery, and exophthalmos degree was measured by Hertel exophthalmometry (Hertel Exophthalmometer SKU:52400; Oculus, Arlington, VA, USA). The custom-made PC-based software EAS (Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul, Korea) was used to analyze eyelid parameters. The 11 parameters included pupil to inferior eyebrow distance (PBD), margin reflex distance 1 (MRD1), margin reflex distance 2 (MRD2), palpebral fissure (PF), total lid length, upper and lower lid length, area, medial area, center area, and lateral area.ResultsUnivariate linear regression analysis showed a significant positive association between amount of exophthalmos reduction and the following parameters: area (p = 0.007); MRD2 (p = 0.043); upper lid length (p = 0.045); lower lid length (p = 0.006); medial area (p = 0.045); and lateral area (p = 0.005). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed only two parameters, lower lid length (p = 0.022) and lateral area (p = 0.019) were associated with exophthalmos reduction.ConclusionsA reduction in the inferior lateral part of the eyelid (lateral area + lower lid length) occurred after orbital decompression surgery in patients with thyroid-associated orbitopathy.

R 3

Computational Radio Frequency Identification (CRFID) tags operate solely on harvested energy and have emerged as viable platforms for a variety of ubiquitous sensing and computation applications. Due to their battery-less nature, these tags can be permanently deployed in hard-to-reach places where the possibility of tag access is eliminated. In such scenarios, maintaining and upgrading the tag’s firmware becomes infeasible because programming tools, including wired interface and PC-based software, are required to erase, modify, or reprogram the microcontroller unit’s memory. Such limitations necessitate the demand for an over-the-air (OTA) scheme, which can wirelessly reprogram or upgrade the firmware in CRFID tags. In this article, we present R 3 —a reliable OTA reprogramming scheme that is compliant with EPC protocol and requires no hardware upgrade to RFID reader or CRFID tag. We demonstrate our scheme on three platforms, which include both software-defined as well as chip-based CRFID tags, that is, WISP5.1 and Optimized WISP (Opt-WISP), and Spider tag, respectively. The selection also includes both the FLASH- and FRAM-based microcontrollers. We extensively evaluate our scheme in terms of several metrics, including overall system delay, time and energy overhead, and success rate in line with interrogation range. We foresee our endeavor to offer the viability of OTA reprogramming and firmware upgrade for CRFID tokens under practical situations.

MATLAB-SIMULINK BASED INFORMATION SUPPORT FOR DIGITAL OVERCURRENT PROTECTION TEST SETS

The implementation of information support for PC-based and hardware-software based sets for digital overcurrent protection devices and their models testing using MatLab-Simulink environment is considered. It is demonstrated that the mathematical modeling of a part of the power system – viz. of the generalized electric power object – could be based on rigid and flexible models. Rigid models implemented on the basis of mathematical description of electrical and magnetic circuits of a power system can be considered as a reference model for the simulation results that have been obtained with the aid of another simulation system to be compared with. It is proposed to implement flexible models for generalized electric power object in the MatLabSimulink environment that includes the SimPowerSystems component library targeted to power system modeling. The features of the parameters calculation of the SimPowerSystems component library blocks that the power system model is formed of are considered. Out of the Simulink standard blocks the models of a wye-connected current transformers were composed as well as the digital overcurrent protection, missing in the component library. A comparison of simulation results of one and the same generalized electric power object implemented in various PC-based software packages was undertaken. The divergence of simulation results did not exceed 3 %; the latter allows us to recommend the MatLab-Simulink environment for information support creation for hardware-software based sets for digital overcurrent protection devices testing. The structure of the hardware-software based set for digital overcurrent protection device testing using the Omicron CMC 356 has been suggested. Time to trip comparison between the real digital protection device МР 801 and the model with the parameters which are exactly match the parameters of the prototype device was carried out using the identical test inputs. The results of the tests demonstrated a close coincidence of results (the divergence of not more than 8 %), that confirms the possibility of using the suggested hardware-software based test set during the development and debugging of new digital relay protection devices.

An analysis of learner outputs in problem posing as sentence-integration in arithmetic word problems

Achieving practical implementation of learning by problem posing faces the issue of inefficiency due to the time needed for assessment and giving feedback to students’ posed problems. As a solution of this problem, we have developed a tablet PC-based software for learning by posing arithmetic word problems named Monsakun. The software is based on Triplet Structure Model of arithmetic word problem. In this research, we investigated problems posed by elementary school students in Monsakun to understand whether Monsakun encourages them to think about the structure of arithmetic word problems. The result shows that students did not pose problems randomly but considered things first. We also found that the frequent errors are actually meaningful errors, and students tried to pose problems satisfying as many constraints as possible, which means they actually think about the structure to pose required problems in the assignments. The process of understanding assignment requirements and relating them to suitable sentence cards is an important point especially for young learners to reach deep understanding of the structure of arithmetic word problems.

Impact of analysis interval size on the quality of optical frequency domain imaging assessments of stent implantation for lesions of the superficial femoral artery

This study aimed to investigate the influence of analysis interval size on optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI) assessment of stent therapy for lesions of the superficial femoral artery (SFA). No consensus or validating data are available with respect to the methodology of intravascular imaging analysis for the peripheral arteries. OFDI was performed for 30 SFA lesions, during endovascular therapy and at the 6-month follow-up. Initially, lumen and stent borders were traced at 1-mm axial intervals. Volumes were calculated using a PC-based software, and the volume index (VI) was defined as the volume divided by the stent length. Two additional OFDI analyses were performed using 2-mm and 5-mm intervals, thereby reducing the number of cross-sectional image frames analyzed. The mean stent length was 89.7 ± 35.2 mm. The mean difference in baseline minimum lumen area (MLA) was 0.4 mm2 between MLA values from the 1-mm and 2-mm interval analyses, and 2.2 mm2 between MLA values from the 1-mm and 5-mm interval analyses. In volumetric analysis, there were excellent correlations and good agreements for stent, lumen, and neointimal VI measurements obtained on the basis of different analysis intervals. Using large intervals in OFDI analyses of SFA lesions resulted in few differences in measurement variability of volumetric parameters. However, planar analysis for MLA assessment can be susceptible to high variability when large intervals are applied. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

WEIGHTED LEAST SQUARE SAR AUTOFOCUSING TECHNIQUE (WLS).

The Weighted Least Squares (WLS) autofocus algorithm has been widely used in spotlight Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) for phase error estimation to compensate motion-induced blurs in the images. The WLS autofocus algorithm has proven to be a superior method for higher order autofocusing because it can be used to estimate all kinds of phase errors, no matter whether they are of low order, high order or random. Compared with other methods, the WLS estimation is optimal in the scene that it has the minimum variance of the estimated error. In this paper, a proposed PC-based software model of the WLS autofocus algorithm is introduced. Simulation results between blurred and focused images, or between the input phase error function and the estimated one carried out by calculating the root mean square (rms) value of the residual phase error, show significant removal of high-order phase errors and better removal of the low-order phase errors. Finally, a suggested Graphical User Interface (GUI) of the proposed algorithm for easier handling on PC-based equipment is introduced. SAR WLS MOCO GUI. [M. Adel Ahmed. (2016); WEIGHTED LEAST SQUARE SAR AUTOFOCUSING TECHNIQUE (WLS). Int. J. of Adv. Res. 4 (Jun). 1506-1511] (ISSN 2320-5407). www.journalijar.com Mohammed Adel Ahmed Abdelhamid Shoukry

A Binaural CI Research Platform for Oticon Medical SP/XP Implants Enabling ITD/ILD and Variable Rate Processing.

We present the first portable, binaural, real-time research platform compatible with Oticon Medical SP and XP generation cochlear implants. The platform consists of (a) a pair of behind-the-ear devices, each containing front and rear calibrated microphones, (b) a four-channel USB analog-to-digital converter, (c) real-time PC-based sound processing software called the Master Hearing Aid, and (d) USB-connected hardware and output coils capable of driving two implants simultaneously. The platform is capable of processing signals from the four microphones simultaneously and producing synchronized binaural cochlear implant outputs that drive two (bilaterally implanted) SP or XP implants. Both audio signal preprocessing algorithms (such as binaural beamforming) and novel binaural stimulation strategies (within the implant limitations) can be programmed by researchers. When the whole research platform is combined with Oticon Medical SP implants, interaural electrode timing can be controlled on individual electrodes to within ±1 µs and interaural electrode energy differences can be controlled to within ±2%. Hence, this new platform is particularly well suited to performing experiments related to interaural time differences in combination with interaural level differences in real-time. The platform also supports instantaneously variable stimulation rates and thereby enables investigations such as the effect of changing the stimulation rate on pitch perception. Because the processing can be changed on the fly, researchers can use this platform to study perceptual changes resulting from different processing strategies acutely.