On the fairness of airlines' ticket pricing as a result of revenue management techniques

, Article Journal of Air Transport Management ; Vol. 40, issue , August , 2014 , pp. 56-64 ; 09696997 Aslani, S ; Modarres, M ; Sibdari, S ; Sharif University of Technology

2014

Abstract

Pricing and availability of tickets have always been a source of confusion for customers in transportation industries. What is the best time to buy tickets? Why passengers taking the same flight might pay significantly different prices for the same seat? Why round trip tickets between two cities sometimes become cheaper than the one-way flights between them? Is it fair to buy a ticket for an itinerary cheaper than a ticket for just a part of it? These observations make customers wonder why they pay higher prices for shorter flights. In this paper, we study the airlines' revenue management systems and explain some of these pricing schemes in travel industries. We develop a simulator to study...

A decomposition approach in network revenue management: Special case of hotel

, Article Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management ; Volume 12, Issue 5 , 2013 , Pages 451-463 ; 14766930 (ISSN) Aslani, S ; Modarres, M ; Sibdari, S ; Sharif University of Technology

2013

Abstract

In this article, we address the multiple-night stay hotel revenue management. Using a decomposition method, we transform the multiple-night stay revenue management into a single night. To this end, we define effective arrival rate for each night that is derived from all the booking requests that contain the night, excluding the possible 'customer losses'. A customer is labeled 'loss' either because of the existence of an expensive night in his itinerary or because of a stock-out occurrence over his stay. We calculate the probabilities of these two incidents and then update the effective daily arrival rate, accordingly. In this way, we can use the classical single-night revenue management,...

Revenue management with customers' reference price: are the existing methods effective?

, Article Service Science ; Volume 10, Issue 2 , May , 2018 , Pages 195-214 ; 21643962 (ISSN) Aslani, S ; Sibdari, S ; Modarres, M ; Sharif University of Technology

INFORMS Inst.for Operations Res.and the Management Sciences 2018

Abstract

Existing revenue management methods and heuristics rely on specific demand-side assumptions such as customers' independent decisions over time. We relax the assumption that purchasing decisions depend only on the current price and are independent of previous prices of the same or similar products. On the contrary, we assume that customers' decisions depend on the product's past prices through a reference price. With this new dimension, a firm needs not only to manage its remaining capacity but also to control the reference price to maximize its expected future profit. In this situation, we show that some of the main analytical properties such as monotonicity or modularity of the firm's value...

Improving data protection in BSS based secure communication: mixing matrix design

, Article Wireless Networks ; Volume 27, Issue 7 , 2021 , Pages 4747-4758 ; 10220038 (ISSN) Aslani, M. R ; Shamsollahi, M. B ; Nouri, A ; Sharif University of Technology

Springer 2021

Abstract

Abstract: In this paper, a secure and efficient Blind Source Separation (BSS) based cryptosystem is presented. The use of BSS in audio and image cryptography in wireless networks has attracted more attention. A BSS based cryptosystem consists of three main parts: secret data, secret keys, and mixing matrix. In this paper, we propose a new design to create a proper mixing matrix in BSS based cryptosystem. We offer a mathematical criterion to select mixing matrix elements before encryption. The proposed criterion gives a simple way to attach the secret sources to keys, which makes source separation very hard for the adversary. Versus, we show that using the random mixing matrix can lead to...

Bed mixing and leachate recycling strategies to overcome pressure drop buildup in the biofiltration of hydrogen sulfide

, Article Bioresource Technology ; Volume 109 , 2012 , Pages 26-30 ; 09608524 (ISSN) Roshani, B ; Torkian, A ; Aslani, H ; Dehghanzadeh, R ; Sharif University of Technology

2012

Abstract

The effects of leachate recycling and bed mixing on the removal rate of H 2S from waste gas stream were investigated. The experimental setup consisted of an epoxy-coated three-section biofilter with an ID of 8cm and effective bed height of 120cm. Bed material consisted of municipal solid waste compost and PVC bits with an overall porosity of 54% and dry bulk density of 0.456gcm -3. Leachate recycling had a positive effect of increasing elimination capacity (EC) up to 21gSm -3 bedh -1 at recycling rates of 75mld -1, but in the bed mixing period EC declined to 8g Sm -3bedh -1. Pressure drop had a range of zero to 18mm H 2Om -1 in the course of leachate recycling. Accumulation of sulfur reduced...

Dynamic Pricing of Perishable Products Considering the Advertisement

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Aslani, Shirin (Author) ; Modarres, Mohammad (Supervisor)

Abstract

Seasonal Products are a group of products with a limited life time. If seasonal products are not sold during a specified time, they have to be sold at a salvage price which is close to zero. Although one can find many studies in the literature regarding pricing of this type of products in order to maximize the profit, none of them have considered the simultaneous effect of both advertising and pricing. The objective of this paper is to introduce an integrated model of dynamic pricing and advertising for seasonal products. The advertisement is classified into two main categories; to advertise a specific type of product and to advertise the brand of the company. To obtain the mentioned goal,...

Method of Estimating the Response Modification Factor for Stiffened Steel Shear Wall Systems

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Aslani, Jalal (Author) ; Bakhshi, Ali (Supervisor)

Abstract

Steel shear wall systems have been introduced as a lateral load resisting system since 1970s. Based on the designer’s choice, this system can be used with or without stiffeners. Employing stiffeners prevents the elastic buckling of steel plates which can enhance the system to absorb more energy. The design code for using stiffners has not developed yet in Iran since this kind of systems is not common practice. In this study, the Response Modification Factor (R), as an important factor in the design procedures of structures, is investigated for 2 to 10-story building structures which have steel shear walls with 3 and 6 millimeters thickness with 3, 4 and 6 meters spans.To this end, the...

Supply Chain Risk Study for Downstream Projects of Oil and Gas Industry in Iran

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Hosseini, Alireza (Author) ; Aslani, Shirin (Supervisor)

Abstract

There are always some unpredictable phenomena happen in the process of constructing of a downstream petrochemichal plant resulting to delays that increase the cost compared with the benefits or sometimes cancelation of the projects that abodones the investors from the returns at all. On of the reasons that these issues can dwibdles the benefits is that most of Iranian’s downstream companies do not prepare suitable and sufficient capabilitities to cope with such a risks. In this thesis, at first, influensive risks on the downstream oil and gas projects in Iran have been studied based on a comprehensive litreture review, secondly using a questionnaire, these extracted risks have been assessed...

A Study on Strategic Behavior of Drivers on Ride-hailing Platforms

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Tavassoli, Parto (Author) ; Aslani, Shirin (Supervisor)

Abstract

Recently, the advent of online platforms as an intermediary tool has provided an opportunity for service providers and manufacturers to offer their services/products to consumers. Ride-hailing platforms are an example of these businesses where independent drivers and passengers are matched via an online platform. One of the most significant challenges faced by these companies is the emergence of strategic behaviors on both the demand and the supply side, which might affect the performance and profitability of the platform.In this thesis, we study the strategic behavior of drivers and its impact on their performance, using the data of one of the largest ride-hailing companies in Iran. We use...

Tracking Consumers Throughout Their Purchase Journey: Using Deep Learning Methods

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Hayati, Danial (Author) ; Aslani, Shirin (Supervisor)

Abstract

Over the past two decades, the interest in exploring consumers' behavior has risen to popularity. Nowadays, it is necessary for marketers to reach out to the right consumers at the right time and with the right message. Even though the positive impact of tracking consumers throughout their purchase journey and its managerial implications have been emphasized several times by academics, There is still a lack of practical research on how to discern the consumers' stage in the purchase journey from a holistic point of view. In this study, we develop several machine learning models, including RNNs (GRU and LSTM), Transformers, and XGBoost, by utilizing historical data of Yektanet (the leading...

Mining the Tenant Experience: Uncovering the Determinants of Residential Satisfaction through Topic Modelling of Online Rental Apartment Reviews

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Ghasemi, Azin (Author) ; Aslani, Shirin (Supervisor)

Abstract

Residential satisfaction plays a pivotal role in shaping liveable cities, profoundly influencing individuals' health and well-being. In contrast, dissatisfaction in living environments often triggers relocation intentions, leading to significant vacancy costs for landlords and property managers. While previous studies predominantly relied on traditional methods like surveys and interviews, our research adopts a novel, bottom-up approach, analysing this phenomenon through the lens of residents themselves. Leveraging a custom-developed Python-based web scraper, we meticulously gathered 195,000 online reviews from apartments.com. This comprehensive dataset spans the most populous cities and...

A Comparative Analysis of Positive eWOM Topics in Robotic and Conventional Hotels: Insights from TripAdvisor Reviews

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Einlou, Zahra (Author) ; Aslani, Shirin (Supervisor)

Abstract

This study explores topics discussed in positive eWOM of robotic and conventional hotels through a comprehensive analysis of online reviews using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). LDA is an advanced topic modeling technique. To uncover topics discussed in eWOM of robotic hotels and conventional hotels, and then compare them to see if there are any meaningful statistical differences between them, three separate LDA models were implemented on reviews of robotic hotels, conventional hotels, and the overall rereviews of all hotels, respectively. The results reveal that “service quality and overall atmosphere” is the most common topic discussed considering both hotel types, with key themes...

E-WOM and Customer Satisfaction in Robotic vs Traditional Hotels: A Topic Modeling Analysis

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Ahmadi, Ali (Author) ; Aslani, Shirin (Supervisor)

Abstract

This research examines the attributes, themes, and topics discussed in electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) generated in TripAdvisor for robotic hotels in comparison to traditional ones. The first objective is to explore the themes and topics within TripAdvisor negative e-WOMs for both types of hotels and analyze how these topics differ between the two types of hotels, using the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) method. The research shows that which topics are mostly discussed in TripAdvisor negative e-WOMs for both types of hotels. Additionally, the research explores whether different themes, topics, and attributes have varying effects on user ratings in traditional hotels versus robotic ones,...

Improving the performance of spatial domain image watermarking with high boost filter

, Article Indian Journal of Science and Technology ; Vol. 7, issue. 12 , Dec , 2014 , p. 2133-2139 Alirezanejad, M ; Amirgholipour, S ; Safari, V ; Aslani, S ; Arab, M ; Sharif University of Technology

2014

Abstract

Authenticating in transaction of digital media becomes an active research field now a day. That is emerging due to the illegal use of digital media and hacking by unauthorized users. Spatial domain based watermarking methods are one of the authentication methods. These methods are not generally robust against intentional or unintentional changes in the images. In this paper, a new method is proposed to recover watermark more precisely in the spatial domain watermarking method. A high-boost filtering is utilized before executing watermark extraction procedure. The watermark information is magnified by preforming this filter. Effectiveness of this filter is proved by several experiment....

Examining Customer Behavior In Regarding OBA

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Zolfagharinasab, Mehdi (Author) ; Aslani, Shirin (Supervisor)

Abstract

In recent years, Internet advertising has become increasingly customized to individual users. As advertising carry on refining its capacities, it is more likely to be seen as insightful and useful by everyone. Consumers, particularly Gen Y and older members of Gen Z, are becoming more accepting of relevant advertising as digital acquaintance. Consumers now welcome active advertising that responds and reflects social activity, location, and brand and product preferences in real-time. This ability to be agile within the consumer’s connected experience is an emerging revenue driver and will continue to grow as ad platforms and ad presentations become smarter. But more personalization results in...

Investigation on the Effect of Product Involvement in Online Targeted Advertising

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Sharifpour, Parisa (Author) ; Aslani, Shirin (Supervisor)

Abstract

Nowadays, one of the most popular methods of advertising is online advertising, which is commonly used by many businesses. In the meantime, targeting the right person at the right moment to show an advertisement is always a major concern of advertisers and other players in this field. One of the areas of study in the literature in this field is the investigation of factors affecting the effectiveness of targeted advertising. The purpose of the upcoming research is to investigate the impact of the advertised product involvement in targeted online advertising. This level of effectiveness is measured by considering click intention as a measure of effectiveness and examining the impact of...

Developing a Decomposition Approach for Network Revenue Management Considering Reference Price: Focusing on Hotel Industry

, Ph.D. Dissertation Sharif University of Technology Aslani, Shirin (Author) ; Modarres Yazdi, Mohammad (Supervisor)

Abstract

This dissertation develops a new approach in network revenue management problems, with concentration on hotel industry. Several methods and heuristics are suggested in the literature to obtain an appropriate solution for network problems, however their focus is mostly on the transportation carriers. These heuristics do not seem to have satisfying effectiveness for hotel industry cases, because of significant difference between these two industries including the network structures, demand distributions and competition markets. On the other hand, with the tremendous growth of the internet and online sale channels, customers’ purchase behavior is modifying drastically. However this behavioral...

Fundamental Factors Influencing Selection and Continuous use of Online Learning Solutions and Identifiying their Values by Conjoint Analysis Method

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Nemati, Hamid Reza (Author) ; Aslani, Shirin (Supervisor)

Abstract

With the easy access to internet and connected devices ubiquities, Today more than 50 million people use online education platforms to improve their skills and broaden their knowledge. In this research we tend to answer two questions based on data from Iranian students from top domestic universities.First question is which factors would these users consider in choosing their online education platform. This would be especially interesting to know in context of Iran’s cultural and job market situations.Second question we are interested in the same context is what are the factors that make users of these platforms to stop using them. This is very important since stoppage rate of online...

Analysis and Differential Equations on Fractals

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Aslani, Shahriar (Author) ; Ranjbar Motlagh, Alireza (Supervisor)

Abstract

In this thesis we consider dynamical aspects of fractals. More precisely, answering questions like how heat diffuses on fractals and how does a material with fractal structure vibrates? To give an answer to these questions we need a PDE theory on fractals. Since fractals do not have smooth structures, defining differential operators like Laplacian is not possible from a classical viewpoint of analysis, to overcome such a difficulty we also need a theory of analysis on fractals. So as a good instance of analysis on fractals we first define Laplacian on Sierpinsky gasket and we try to extend the concept on other finitely ramified self-similar fractals. We also construct Dirichlet forms,...

Analysis of Transition of A System from Third Generation to Fourth Generation and Prediction of Its Optimum Behavior

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Aslani, Razieh (Author) ; Saidi, Mohamed Hassan (Supervisor)

Abstract

The purpose of the current study is the thermodynamic, economic and environmental analysis of a cogeneration system capable of generating power, freshwater and/or air conditioning (AC) used in buildings. A photovoltaic-thermal system was used in conjunction with a concentrated reflector in order to generate power and heat. Photovoltaic cells and the cogeneration cycle turbine were tasked with generating electric power. In addition, a portion of the heat generated by the thermal collector was used to preheat the working fluid of the third-generation cogeneration cycle and another portion was used to produce freshwater. In order to provide the AC needed during summer, the cogeneration cycle...