Abstract: A sonotrode or ultrasonic welding apparatus for ultrasonically processing a material, including a sealing surface adapted to contact the material to be processed, a rear surface opposite to the sealing surface, and a circumferential lateral surface connecting the sealing surface to the rear surface, the lateral surface having two side surfaces arranged substantially parallel to each other and two end surfaces arranged substantially parallel to each other. In order to provide a sonotrode or ultrasonic welding apparatus for processing a material, which at least reduces damage to the material and at the same time does not impair the production speed, it is proposed that the sealing surface has a convexly curved inlet section which adjoins the lateral surface, and wherein the sealing surface has a coating at least in a section.

Abstract: Ultrasonic tool and method for machining a workpiece by means of mechanical ultrasonic oscillations.

Abstract: The present invention relates to liquid compositions and formulations comprising a protein having a reduced viscosity and/or increased stability. Furthermore, the invention relates to methods for reducing the viscosity and/or increasing the stability of a protein solution.

Abstract: The present invention relates to compositions of highly concentrated protein formulations showing reduced viscosity, which is induced by the addition of at least camphorsulfonic acid. The contained proteins in the prepared formulations are stabilized against aggregation and denaturation and are thus sufficiently storage-stable until administration to the patient.

Abstract: The present invention relates to excipients for special protein formulations, which are suitable to improve the thermal stability against denaturation and deactivation. In particular, the present invention relates to additives for thermostabilizing of vaccine formulations.

Abstract: A method operates a hearing aid where a sound is recorded by a microphone. The sound is analyzed with respect to the correspondence thereof with the own voice of the hearing aid wearer and a characteristic value is produced, which indicates how strongly the sound corresponds with the own voice. The own voice is a sound type. The characteristic value is compared with a threshold value and, depending on whether the characteristic value lies above or below the threshold value, the sound is identified as the own voice. Depending on whether the sound has been identified as the own voice, the hearing aid is switched among a plurality operating modes. The method is characterized in that the threshold value is set in accordance with the user. Thus, an improved own-voice identification recognizer is formed, which distinguishes the own voice of the hearing aid wearer from another sound type.

Abstract: A method operates a hearing aid where a sound is recorded by a microphone. The sound is analyzed with respect to the correspondence thereof with the own voice of the hearing aid wearer and a characteristic value is produced, which indicates how strongly the sound corresponds with the own voice. The own voice is a sound type. The characteristic value is compared with a threshold value and, depending on whether the characteristic value lies above or below the threshold value, the sound is identified as the own voice. Depending on whether the sound has been identified as the own voice, the hearing aid is switched among a plurality operating modes. The method is characterized in that the threshold value is set in accordance with the user. Thus, an improved own-voice identification recognizer is formed, which distinguishes the own voice of the hearing aid wearer from another sound type.

Abstract: In order to enable better estimation of dynamic interference noise, a device and a method for estimating interference noise provide a value for the power density of a total signal, containing a wanted signal and the interference noise to be estimated, in a current time window. The value of the total signal is compared with an estimated value, multiplied with an amplification factor, of interference noise from a time window prior to the current time window and the smaller of the two values from the comparison is used as a preliminary estimated value for the interference noise in the current time window. A codebook estimated value for the interference noise in the current time window is also provided. Finally, the larger of the preliminary estimated value and the codebook estimated value is used as the estimated value for the interference noise in the current time window.

Abstract: A method and an appropriate acoustic signal processing device estimate a set of linear predictive coding coefficients of a microphone signal using minimum mean-square error estimation with a codebook containing several predetermined sets of linear predictive coding coefficients. The method includes determining sums of weighted backward transition probabilities describing the transition probabilities between the predetermined sets of linear predictive coding coefficients. The backward transition probabilities are obtained from signal training data by mapping the signal training data to one set of the codebook and by determining relative frequencies of transitions between two of the sets of the codebook. Modelling the “memory” of the codebook has the advantage that the accuracy of estimating linear predictive coding coefficients is increased considerably also for speech components.

Abstract: In order to enable better estimation of dynamic interference noise, a device and a method for estimating interference noise provide a value for the power density of a total signal, containing a wanted signal and the interference noise to be estimated, in a current time window. The value of the total signal is compared with an estimated value, multiplied with an amplification factor, of interference noise from a time window prior to the current time window and the smaller of the two values from the comparison is used as a preliminary estimated value for the interference noise in the current time window. A codebook estimated value for the interference noise in the current time window is also provided. Finally, the larger of the preliminary estimated value and the codebook estimated value is used as the estimated value for the interference noise in the current time window.

Abstract: There is described a method for operation of a hearing device system with two microphones arranged spatially separated from one another and with sound-generating output units assigned to these microphones, in which, by comparison of the microphone signals or of signals derived therefrom, feedback is detected, and on detection of the feedback measures are initiated for reducing the feedback, and with the comparison of the microphone signals or of signals derived therefrom comprising a frequency-selective power comparison. There is also described a hearing device system suitable for this method.

Abstract: A method and an appropriate acoustic signal processing device estimate a set of linear predictive coding coefficients of a microphone signal using minimum mean-square error estimation with a codebook containing several predetermined sets of linear predictive coding coefficients. The method includes determining sums of weighted backward transition probabilities describing the transition probabilities between the predetermined sets of linear predictive coding coefficients. The backward transition probabilities are obtained from signal training data by mapping the signal training data to one set of the codebook and by determining relative frequencies of transitions between two of the sets of the codebook. Modelling the “memory” of the codebook has the advantage that the accuracy of estimating linear predictive coding coefficients is increased considerably also for speech components.

Abstract: There is described a method for operation of a hearing device system with two microphones arranged spatially separated from one another and with sound-generating output units assigned to these microphones, in which, by comparison of the microphone signals or of signals derived therefrom, feedback is detected, and on detection of the feedback measures are initiated for reducing the feedback, and with the comparison of the microphone signals or of signals derived therefrom comprising a frequency-selective power comparison. There is also described a hearing device system suitable for this method.