Research on the Safety and Security Distance of Above-Ground Liquefied Gas Storage Tanks and Dispensers

Many countries lack clear legal requirements on the distance between buildings and petrol station facilities. The regulations in force directly determine the petrol station facilities’ required distance to buildings, and such distances are considered relevant for newly designed and reconstructed buildings. Public buildings must be located no closer than 60 m to the above-ground liquefied gas tanks and liquid gas dispensers. Still, based on engineering calculations and the applied technical measures, it is possible to determine a safe distance for buildings that are constructed, extended and reconstructed, to which superstructures are added or whose utilisation method changes. The paper presents the results of calculations devoted to determining a safe distance between public buildings and LPG filling station facilities, using selected analytical models. The analyses were carried out for the LPG gas system commonly used in petrol stations, consisting of two gas storage tanks of 4.85 m3 capacity each, and a dispenser. It is legitimate to eliminate the obligation to observe the 60 m distance between LPG filling stations and public buildings and the mandatory distance of 60 m between liquefied gas dispensers and public buildings is not justified in light of the implemented requirements to use various protections at self-service liquefied gas filling stands.

Ambient intelligence governance review: from service-oriented to self-service

The current generation of connected devices and the Internet of Things augment people’s capabilities through ambient intelligence. Ambient Intelligence (AmI) support systems contain applications consuming available services in the environment to serve users. A well-known design of these applications follows a service architecture style and implement artificial intelligence mechanisms to maintain an awareness of the context: The service architecture style enables the distribution of capabilities and facilitates interoperability. Intelligence and context-awareness provide an adaptation of the environment to improve the interaction. Smart objects in distributed deployments and the increasing machine awareness of devices and people context also lead us to architectures, including self-governed policies providing self-service. We have systematically reviewed and analyzed ambient system governance considering service-oriented architecture (SOA) as a reference model. We applied a systematic mapping process obtaining 198 papers for screening (out of 712 obtained after conducting searches in research databases). We then reviewed and categorized 68 papers related to 48 research projects selected by fulfilling ambient intelligence and SOA principles and concepts. This paper presents the result of our analysis, including the existing governance designs, the distribution of adopted characteristics, and the trend to incorporate service in the context-aware process. We also discuss the identified challenges and analyze research directions.

Self-service versus human interaction in private consumption: The moderating role of brand personality

We explored how consumer attitudes toward service delivery types (self-service technology vs. face-to-face) differ in a private consumption context depending on the brand personality (underdog brand vs. top- dog brand). Using banking service (Study 1) and hotel service (Study 2) scenarios, we empirically investigated the interaction effects between service delivery types and brand personalities on consumer attitudes. The results indicate that for humanized underdog brands consumers showed a more positive attitude toward self-service technologies than toward face-to-face services. However, for the top-dog brands there were no significant moderation effects. Thus, when managers in the marketing field are planning to regulate new directions for their service policy, they need to be very cautious by considering both consumption context and brand personality. We have theoretically and practically expanded the existing literature on service delivery by focusing on private consumption services.

Users Versus Non-users: The Impact of Experience on Hotel Guests’ Attitudes Towards Service Robots in Hotels

The use of robotics and artificial intelligence have created a shift in the ways the service-based hospitality and tourism industry can fulfill the needs and wants of consumers that were earlier fulfilled only by humans. Robots have added the automation and self-service experience that play a vital role in the improvements of efficiency, speed, and the overall experience for the guests using technology. While there are many benefits of using robots in the industry, there are also risks associated with the excessive usage of robots on guest experience. As a result of the pros and cons on the topic, it is very important to gather data and analyze the results to further investigate and understand what the outcomes will be for the industry, its employees, and its customers. The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of the use of robots in the hotels as perceived by hotel guests who used a service robot and who did not. A self-administered survey was developed, and 939 usable responses were collected from hotel guests. Factor analysis showed that five factors emerged in the study: Advantages, Attitudes, Disadvantages, Pandemic Related, and Fear. Guests recognize the opportunities that service robots are bringing to their experience while voicing their concerns and fears about the use of them. Findings also showed that there are significant differences between users and non-users.