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Abstract
This paper assesses Brazil's real convergence (1822-2019) through unit root tests and Markov Regime-Switching (MS) models in three different scenarios: towards (i) other six Latin American countries (LA6); (ii) Portugal; and (iii) the technological frontier country, the US. The extended unit root test results favour Brazil's very long-run real convergence towards LA6 and Portugal, but not the US. The estimated MS models, involving two different regimes, real convergence and real non-convergence/divergence, capture institutional quality's positive effect in promoting Brazil's real convergence.

Abstract
Higher Education Institutions must define and monitor strategies and policies essential for decision-making in their various areas and levels, in which Business Intelligence plays a leading role. This research addresses the problem of Business Intelligence system adoption in Higher Education Institutions, with a view, in the first instance, to identify and characterise the strategic objectives that underpin decision-making, activities, processes, indicators and information in Higher Education Institutions. After a literature review, it was found that the absence of a roadmap that can serve as a reference to implement a Business Intelligence system in Higher Education Institutions may limit the adoption of this type of solution. Therefore, this research intends to present the methodology of a proposed roadmap for the implementation of Business Intelligence systems in Higher Education Institutions, that allows for increasing its capacity for analysis and evaluation of the data and information available in the various systems and platforms. © 2023 ICSBT International Conference on Smart Business Technologies. All rights reserved.

Abstract
We study a setting in which a company not only has a fleet of capacitated vehicles and drivers available to make deliveries but may also use the services of occasional drivers (ODs) willing to make deliveries using their own vehicles in return for a small fee. Under such a business model, a.k.a crowdshipping, the company seeks to make all the deliveries at the minimum total cost, i.e., the cost associated with their vehicles plus the compensation paid to the ODs.We consider a stochastic and dynamic last-mile delivery environment in which customer delivery orders, as well as ODs available for deliveries, arrive randomly throughout the day, within fixed time windows.We present a novel deep reinforcement learning (DRL) approach to the problem that can deal with large problem instances. We formulate the action selection problem as a mixed-integer optimization program.The DRL approach is compared against other optimization under uncertainty approaches, namely, sample -average approximation (SAA) and distributionally robust optimization (DRO). The results show the effective-ness of the DRL approach by examining out-of-sample performance.

Abstract
Approximate agreement has long been relegated to the sidelines compared to exact consensus, with its most notable application being clock synchronisation. Other proposed applications stemming from control theory target multi-agent consensus, namely for sensor stabilisation, coordination in robotics, and trust estimation. Several proposals for approximate agreement follow the Mean Subsequence Reduce approach, simply applying different functions at each phase. However, taking clock synchronisation as an example, applications do not fit neatly into the MSR model: Instead they require adapting the algorithms' internals. Our contribution is two-fold. First, we identify additional configuration points, establishing a more general template of MSR approximate agreement algorithms. We then show how this allows us to implement not only generic algorithms but also those tailored for specific purposes (clock synchronisation). Second, we propose a toolkit for making approximate agreement practical, providing classical implementations as well as allow these to be configured for specific purposes. We validate the implementation with classical algorithms and clock synchronisation.

Abstract
Simple Summary Canine hip dysplasia development results in femoral neck modeling and an increase in thickness. The main objective of this work was to describe a femoral neck thickness index to quantify femoral neck width and to study its association with the degree of canine hip dysplasia using the Federation Cynologique Internationale scoring scheme. A total of 53 dogs (106 hips) were randomly selected for this study. Two examiners performed femoral neck thickness index estimation to study intra- and inter-examiner reliability and agreement. Statistical analysis tests showed excellent agreement and reliability between the measurements of the two examiners and the examiners' sessions. All joints were scored in five categories by an experienced examiner according to the Federation Cynologique Internationale criteria, and the results from examiner 1 were compared between these categories. The comparison of mean femoral neck thickness index between hip dysplasia categories using the analysis of variance test showed significant differences between groups. These results show that femoral neck thickness index is a parameter capable of evaluating proximal femur bone modeling and that it has the potential to enrich conventional canine hip dysplasia scoring criteria if incorporated into a computer-aided diagnosis software. The alteration in the shape of the femoral neck is an important radiographic sign for scoring canine hip dysplasia (CHD). Previous studies have reported that the femoral neck thickness (FNT) is greater in dogs with hip joint dysplasia, becoming progressively thicker with disease severity. The main objective of this work was to describe a femoral neck thickness index (FNTi) to quantify FNT and to study its association with the degree of CHD using the Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI) scheme. A total of 53 dogs (106 hips) were randomly selected for this study. Two examiners performed FNTi estimation to study intra- and inter-examiner reliability and agreement. The paired t-test, the Bland-Altman plots, and the intraclass correlation coefficient showed excellent agreement and reliability between the measurements of the two examiners and the examiners' sessions. All joints were scored in five categories by an experienced examiner according to FCI criteria. The results from examiner 1 were compared between FCI categories. Hips that were assigned an FCI grade of A (n = 19), B (n = 23), C (n = 24), D (n = 24), and E (n = 16) had a mean & PLUSMN; standard deviation FNTi of 0.809 & PLUSMN; 0.024, 0.835 & PLUSMN; 0.044, 0.868 & PLUSMN; 0.022, 0.903 & PLUSMN; 0.033, and 0.923 & PLUSMN; 0.068, respectively (ANOVA, p < 0.05). Therefore, these results show that FNTi is a parameter capable of evaluating proximal femur bone modeling and that it has the potential to enrich conventional CHD scoring criteria if incorporated into a computer-aided diagnosis capable of detecting CHD.