Meta-heuristics are algorithms which are applied to solve problems when conventional algorithms can not find good solutions in reasonable time; evolutionary algorithms are perhaps the most well-known examples of meta-heuristics. As there are many possible meta-heuristics, finding the most suitable meta-heuristic for a given problem is not a trivial task. In order to make this choice, one can de...

background: to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on controlled treatment trials of meta-cognitive therapy for anxiety disorders. materials and methods: studies were included if they employed controlled methodology and treated people above 18 years with anxiety disorders. case studies (with less than 4 cases) and single case designed studies were excluded. a comprehensive literature ...

context air pollution is common in all countries and affects reproductive functions in men and women. it particularly impacts sperm parameters in men. this meta-analysis aimed to examine the impact of air pollution on the quality of sperm. conclusions the results of this meta-analysis showed that air pollution reduces sperm motility, but has no impact on the other sperm parameters of spermogram...

the present meta-analysis was conducted to provide a quantitative measure of the overall effects of task complexity on chinese efl learners’ language production. based on the strict inclusion criteria, 12 primary studies were synthesized according to key features. eleven of them were meta-analyzed to investigate effects of raising the resource-directing task complexity. results revealed that ...

smoking has become more prevalent in turkey than it has in those of western countries during the past decade. this study was conducted to make parameter estimations on gender related smoking habits with the minimum of variance. of the ninety-two researches related to smoking habits conducted from 1981 to 2003 in turkey, 60 were deemed appropriate for the application of meta analysis and meta re...

aim and background: in recent years, experts in the field of obsessive-compulsive disorder have been trying to measure the validity and efficiency of pharmaceutical interventions. the meta-analysis evaluated the effectiveness of medication on symptoms of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. methods and materials: this meta-analysis was conducted on studies during the past decade in iran...

abstractgiven the importance of the notion of efficiency in the country's economic growth, measuring the efficiency and the technology gap for various industries in order to achieve the best possible resource assignment, following the declared policy goals, is of particular importance for those countries, such as iran, which are now at the early stages of the industrialization process. hen...

conclusions the current meta-analysis showed an association between frequency of gg genotype of pnpla3 and the risk of development of chc in various populations throughout the world. results five hospital-based case-control studies were included in the final analysis. the overall frequency of pnpla3 gene polymorphisms was 20.4% (205/1005) in chc and 10.23% (53/518) in controls. the summary odds...