Service Robots in the Hospitality Industry: An Exploratory Literature Review

The service sector is changing drastically due the use of robotics and other technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of things (IoT), Big Data and Biometrics. Consequently, further research opportunities in the service industry domain are also expected. In light of the above, the purpose of this paper is to explore the potentialities and limitations of service robots in the hospitality industry. To this end, this paper uses a conceptual approach based on a literature review. As a result, we found that in contexts of high customer contact, service robots should be considered to perform standardized tasks due to social/emotional and cognitive/analytical complexity. The hospitality industry is therefore considered closely related to empathic intelligence, as the integration of service robots has not yet reached the desired stage of service delivery. In a seemingly far-fetched context of our reality, organizations will have to decide whether the AI will allow the complete replacement of humans with robots capable of performing the necessary cognitive and emotional tasks. Or investing in balanced capacities by integrating robot-human systems that seems a reasonable option these days.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A systematic review of attitudes, anxiety, acceptance, and trust towards social robots

As social robots become more common, there is a need to understand how people perceive and interact with such technology. This systematic review seeks to estimate people’s attitudes toward, trust in, anxiety associated with, and acceptance of social robots; as well as factors that are associated with these beliefs. Ninety-seven studies were identified with a combined sample of over 13,000 participants and a standardized score was computed for each in order to represent the valence (positive, negative, or neutral) and magnitude (on a scale from 1 to − 1) of people’s beliefs about robots. Potential moderating factors such as the robots’ domain of application and design, the type of exposure to the robot, and the characteristics of potential users were also investigated. The findings suggest that people generally have positive attitudes towards social robots and are willing to interact with them. This finding may challenge some of the existing doubt surrounding the adoption of robotics in social domains of application but more research is needed to fully understand the factors that influence attitudes

The Rotterdam Study: 2012 objectives and design update

The Rotterdam Study is a prospective cohort study ongoing since 1990 in the city of Rotterdam in The Netherlands. The study targets cardiovascular, endocrine, hepatic, neurological, ophthalmic, psychiatric, dermatological, oncological, and respiratory diseases. As of 2008, 14,926 subjects aged 45 years or over comprise the Rotterdam Study cohort. The findings of the Rotterdam Study have been presented in over a 1,000 research articles and reports (see www.erasmus-epidemiology.nl/rotterdamstudy). This article gives the rationale of the study and its design. It also presents a summary of the major findings and an update of the objectives and methods

Framingham cardiovascular disease risk scores and incident frailty:the English longitudinal study of ageing

Cross-sectional studies show that frailty is common in older people with cardiovascular disease. Whether older people at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease are more likely to become frail is unclear. We used multinomial logistic regression to examine the prospective relation between Framingham cardiovascular disease risk scores and incidence of physical frailty or pre-frailty, defined according to the Fried criteria, in 1,726 men and women aged 60 to over 90 years from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing who had no history of cardiovascular disease at baseline. Men and women with higher Framingham cardiovascular risk scores were more likely to become frail over the 4-year follow-up period. For a standard deviation higher score at baseline, the relative risk ratio (95 % confidence interval) for incident frailty, adjusted for sex and baseline frailty status, was 2.76 (2.18, 3.49). There was a significant association between Framingham cardiovascular risk score and risk of pre-frailty: 1.69 (1.46, 1.95). After further adjustment for other potential confounding factors, the relative risk ratios for frailty and pre-frailty were 2.15 (1.68, 2.75) and 1.50 (1.29, 1.74), respectively. The associations were unchanged after excluding incident cases of cardiovascular disease. Separate adjustment for each component of the risk score suggested that no single component was driving the associations between cardiovascular risk score and incident pre-frailty or frailty. Framingham cardiovascular risk scores may be useful for predicting the development of physical frailty in older people. We now need to understand the biological mechanisms whereby cardiovascular risk increases the risk of frailty

A brief review of robotics technologies to support social interventions for older users

In the last few decades, various studies demonstrated numerous robotics applications that can tackle the problem of the ageing population by supporting older people to live longer and independently at home. This article reviews the scientific literature and highlights how social robots can help the daily life of older people and be useful also as assessment tools for mild physical and mental conditions. It will underline the aspects of usability and acceptability of robotic solutions for older persons. Indeed, the design should maximise these to improve the users' attitude towards the actual use of the robots. The article discusses the advantages and concerns about the use of robotics technology in the social context with a vulnerable population. In this field, success is to assist social workers, not to replace them. We conclude recommending that care benefits should be balanced against ethical costs

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The genetic basis of toxin biosynthesis in dinoflagellates

© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. In marine ecosystems, dinoflagellates can become highly abundant and even dominant at times, despite their comparatively slow growth rates. One factor that may play a role in their ecological success is the production of complex secondary metabolite compounds that can have anti-predator, allelopathic, or other toxic effects on marine organisms, and also cause seafood poisoning in humans. Our knowledge about the genes involved in toxin biosynthesis in dinoflagellates is currently limited due to the complex genomic features of these organisms. Most recently, the sequencing of dinoflagellate transcriptomes has provided us with valuable insights into the biosynthesis of polyketide and alkaloid-based toxin molecules in dinoflagellate species. This review synthesizes the recent progress that has been made in understanding the evolution, biosynthetic pathways, and gene regulation in dinoflagellates with the aid of transcriptomic and other molecular genetic tools, and provides a pathway for future studies of dinoflagellates in this exciting omics era

Alexandrium spp.: Genetic and ecological factors influencing saxitoxin production and proliferation

In past decades, research efforts have been focused on understanding the distribution patterns and factors regulating the dynamics of toxic Alexandrium blooms. Many of the local or regional PSP problems are now well characterized (e.g., [29, 30]).Extensive surveys have resulted in forecast models [31] and monitoring strategies [32]that help to reduce the economic losses and assess the ecological risks of toxic out-breaks. The intense research on species of the genus conducted worldwide also revealed that toxic bloom events caused by Alexandrium have increased in the recent past [33], and that new blooms have occurred in previously unaffected areas [34, 35].Examples of recent expansions of Alexandrium species are the East Siberian coasts[36], the Mediterranean Sea [37] and the Baltic [38]. Human-assisted introductions, particularly of cysts [39, 40], eutrophication [41] and habitat changes [42], have been identified as factors promoting dispersal and bloom formation. Increasingly, the potential effects of climate change on Alexandrium growth, toxicity and bloom formation are also being addressed by scientists (e.g., [43, 44]). Advances in the understanding of the role of climate factors in bloom formation and toxicity will be particularly addressed in this revie

Early embryonic development in the semi‐domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)

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