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This paper presents a low-cost and motivational laboratory for digital signal processing education using well-known low-cost microcontrollers. The proposed laboratory is particularly useful for universities with very low available budget. The use of Arduino makes it particularly attractive for students due to the huge community and high availability of expansion modules and sensors. This setup can support the implementation of real-time DSP projects such as audio, SONAR and even medical applications.

This paper presents a technique for detection of selected targets in the context of ultrawideband noise radar. The technique applies to scenarios where targets can be modeled as having a few predominant scatterers, such as some made man-made targets. The basic idea is to change the signal used as reference for detection in such a way that it is adapted to the predominant scatterers of the targets. When compared with another recently published technique the obtained detection gains are similar. However, in contrast to that, the proposed technique shows the additional advantage that the received data is still useful for further processing.

Health care is one of the major issues in social policy, affected by multiple factors, such as the increase in health costs, crisis, and the degree of private participation in the financing of services. In this essay we reflect on this participation of the private sector in health care, with Brazil as a reference country and taking into account member states of the Union of South American Nations. Based on a qualitative study using data from national and international organizations, we found significant private participation in health care of countries in various continents, with an increase of public and private spending between 2000 and 2010. Regardless of the adopted health system, there was an increase of private spending in most countries analyzed, which emphasizes the need to further evaluate the performance of public and private sectors, as well as the regulatory frameworks for their participation in health care, thus enabling policies that promote quality improvement and the expansion of coverage.