Vb/merge 5.0.0 2

[vbrodsky]

Description

Please include a summary of the changes and the related issue. Please also include relevant motivation and context.

Fixes # (issue)

Type of change

Please delete options that are not relevant.

• [ ] Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• [ ] New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• [ ] Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to not work as expected)
• [ ] Document change (fix typo or modifying any markdown files, code comments or anything in the examples folder only)

All Submissions

• [ ] Have you followed the guidelines in our Contributing document?
• [ ] Have you provided a description?
• [ ] Are your changes properly formatted?

New Feature Submissions

• [ ] Does your submission pass tests?
• [ ] Have you added thorough tests for your new feature?
• [ ] Have you commented your code, particularly in hard-to-understand areas?
• [ ] Have you added a Docstring?

Changes to Core Features

• [ ] Have you written new tests for your core changes, as applicable?
• [ ] Have you successfully run tests with your changes locally?
• [ ] Have you updated any code comments, as applicable?