Generation of an induced pluripotent stem cell line from patient with atrial fibrillation with KCNQ1 p.Ser209Pro mutation.

Gain-of-function mutations in the KCNQ1 gene can cause atrial fibrillation. In this study, we generated an induced stem cell line (GRCHJUi001) from one member of an atrial fibrillation family line, whom had heterozygous mutation in the KCNQ1 gene c.625 T > C (p.Ser209Pro), and the cell line showed maintenance of stem cells characterized by morphology, normal karyotype, and pluripotency.

Nexus between environmental disclosures and top management team characteristics: a systematic review.

Voluntary nature of sustainability disclosures in most of the countries shifts focus of academicians towards discretion of top executives as a major determining force for firms to make their operations environmentally and socially sustainable. Based on two decade literature on the topic available at Scopus database this study aims to present a comprehensive knowledge map of intellectual structure on the relationship of top management characteristics on sustainability spending and disclosures. A bibliometric systematic review of 164 articles from 2002 to 2022 has been conducted with the help of VOSviewer and identified most influential journals, articles, and the countries whose corresponding authors have contributed in the field and influential research clusters in the literature. These research clusters are first, red cluster with 94 articles has discussed the upper echelon's personal and professional characteristics in relation to sustainability disclosures. Second, green cluster with 60 articles has discussed particularly the gender diversity in top executives and board of directors in relationship with sustainability disclosures. Third, blue cluster with 10 articles has elaborated the influence of independent directors on sustainability disclosures of corporate sector. The findings of this study will particularly help the regulators to make regulations regarding critical mass of female on boards and top management, family-owned firms, and politically connected directors. Moreover it will also help consultants, analysts, and investment bankers to differentiate firms with pressure-resistant and pressure-sensitive institutional investors. From this review shareholders can be very much clear in the selection of their representatives and ultimately the appointment of top management team. This study also provides an insight for future direction so that unexplored dimension of this field may further be discovered by upcoming researchers.

ß-Catenin promotes long-term survival and angiogenesis of peripheral blood mesenchymal stem cells via the Oct4 signaling pathway.

Stem cell therapy has been extensively studied to improve heart function following myocardial infarction; however, its therapeutic potency is limited by low rates of engraftment, survival, and differentiation. Here, we aimed to determine the roles of the ß-catenin/Oct4 signaling axis in the regulation of long-term survival and angiogenesis of peripheral blood mesenchymal stem cells (PBMSCs). These cells were obtained from rat abdominal aortic blood. We showed that ß-catenin promotes the self-renewal, antiapoptotic effects, and long-term survival of PBMSCs by activating the Oct4 pathway through upregulation of the expression of the antiapoptotic factors Bcl2 and survivin and the proangiogenic cytokine bFGF and suppression of the levels of the proapoptotic factors Bax and cleaved caspase-3. ß-Catenin overexpression increased Oct4 expression. ß-Catenin knockdown suppressed Oct4 expression in PBMSCs. However, ß-catenin levels were not affected by Oct4 overexpression or knockdown. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays proved that ß-catenin directly regulates Oct4 transcription in PBMSCs. In vivo, PBMSCs overexpressing ß-catenin showed high survival in infarcted hearts and resulted in better myocardial repair. Further functional analysis identified Oct4 as the direct upstream regulator of Ang1, bFGF, HGF, VEGF, Bcl2, and survivin, which cooperatively drive antiapoptosis and angiogenesis of engrafted PBMSCs. These findings revealed the regulation of ß-catenin in PBMSCs by the Oct4-mediated antiapoptotic/proangiogenic signaling axis and provide a breakthrough point for improving the long-term survival and therapeutic effects of PBMSCs.

Understanding the dynamics of natural resources rents, environmental sustainability, and sustainable economic growth: new insights from China.

There is a close relationship between natural resources and production in many sectors, and production and consumption can also have an environmental impact. Low environmental quality affects economic growth and well-being. Environmental protection and economic growth cannot be maximized simultaneously. Choosing the right balance between the two aims is imperative for each country. By moderating the role of merchandise trade and manufacturing value-added from 1970 to 2016, we examine the dynamics of China's natural resource rents, environmental sustainability, and sustainable economic growth. Overall, the results of this study indicate that natural resources improve environmental sustainability at the expense of economic growth. In contrast, financial development, merchandise trade, and urban population growth promote environmental degradation. It is vital to understand governance mechanisms to sustain natural resource policies, considering environmental, social, and governance concerns to benefit society.

Is there a relationship between natural gas consumption and the environmental Kuznets curve? Empirical evidence from Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has significant natural gas reserves, and total demand has climbed substantially in recent years. The study uses the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model for cointegration and the vector autoregressive(VAR) Granger causality model to analyze a long-run link between natural gas (NG) consumption, economic development, urbanization, and CO2 emissions. The objective is to investigate the relationship between the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) and Bangladesh's NG consumption using data from the years 1990 to 2018. According to the ARDL model, economic growth, urbanization, and NG consumption, all have a positive and significant influence on CO2 emissions. Despite having a negative coefficient, the square of economic development has a significant impact on CO2 emissions. In the long run, it verifies the EKC hypothesis in Bangladesh. Both linear and nonlinear economic development determinants display statistically significant positive and negative signals in the short run. From Bangladesh's perspective, this also demonstrates the presence of an EKC. The impact of NG consumption in the short run is insignificant; nevertheless, urbanization has a significant effect. The VAR Granger causality demonstrates that economic development and urbanization have a bidirectional response; however, NG consumption and CO2 emissions have just one-way causality. The key policy implication of the study is that NG use is expected to raise emissions. Increasing the share of clean energy in the energy utilization system, such as nuclear power and renewable energy, is a plausible policy choice.

The impact of foreign direct investment, tourism, electricity consumption, and economic development on CO2 emissions in Bangladesh.

The study's goal is to investigate the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI), tourism, electricity consumption, and economic development on CO2 emissions in Bangladesh between 1990 and 2019. Empirical results reveal that FDI, electricity consumption, and economic development variables have significant and positive long-term effects on CO2 emissions. Tourism, on the other hand, has a long-term negative effect. The square of the GDP variable has a substantial negative coefficient. This indicates that in Bangladesh, the nexus between CO2 emissions and economic development is U-shaped inverted. As a result, the EKC postulate is proven to be correct. In the short term, electricity consumption, economic development, GDP2, and tourism have no substantial effect on CO2 emissions. Only the coefficients of FDI are negative and significant. The expected ECM coefficients are also negative and statistically significant. According to these data, the system as a whole adjusts at a rate of 60%. The Granger causality study reveals one direction of causation between electricity consumption and CO2 emissions, CO2 emissions and economic development, electricity consumption and economic development, FDI, and CO2 emissions.

Is there a tradeoff between financial globalization, economic growth, and environmental sustainability? An advanced panel analysis.

In recent years, many empirical studies investigated the effects of globalization on the ecological footprint (EF). Most of these studies relied on the KOF index of globalization and studied the effects of total globalization and disaggregated impacts of economic, social, and political globalization on the EF. However, less attention has been given to financial globalization which can also influence the EF. Hence, this study investigates the association between financial globalization (FG), economic growth (GDP), and EF controlling population density (PD) in the selected West Asian and the Middle East (WAME) nations from 1990 to 2017. The study relied upon second-generation methods for checking stationary properties and Westerlund and other techniques to scrutinize cointegration. The evidence showed cointegration in the model. The long-run approximations from continuously updated fully modified (CUP-FM) and continuously updated bias corrected (CUP-BC) tests divulge that financial globalization is an important factor to promote ecological sustainability in the sample countries because it decreases EF. Population density exacerbates EF and worsens environmental deterioration in sample countries. The study detected the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) between EF and economic growth in the presence of financial globalization and population density. Besides, financial globalization Granger causes EF, while the feedback effect exists between EF and economic growth. Based on these results, WAME economies can accomplish ecological sustainability and sustainable development by enhancing their financial globalization levels.

A controversy on the three fundamental growth determinants in selected CEE countries.

The present study is a controversy on the three fundamental growth determinants. It contributes to the literature by divulging the effects of foreign direct investment and financial development on energy consumption in Central and Eastern European countries from 1990 to 2016. In doing so, second-generation multi-econometric methodological methods are adopted to conclude this study. The Pooled Means Group (PMG) estimation approach confirms that foreign direct investment is adversely associated with energy consumption. A one-point rise in FDI in the CEE region reduces energy consumption by 0.0172 points in the long run. Congruently, the globalization index also mitigates energy consumption. Conversely, financial development and economic growth stimulate energy consumption in the CEE region. Energy consumption boosts by 0.0626 points when a one-point escalation in financial development occurs. The U-shaped link between energy consumption and economic growth is revealed. The country-wise results show that energy consumption rises due to financial development and FDI in nine countries and one country. However, reduction in energy consumption occurs due to an upsurge of financial development in seven and FDI in six countries. Moreover, the causality results suggest that energy consumption causes financial development, and FDI. The policy suggestions are included to mitigate unsustainable energy consumption and renovate the energy policy in this region.

Oct4-dependent FoxC1 activation improves the survival and neovascularization of mesenchymal stem cells under myocardial ischemia.

BACKGROUND: The administration of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) remains the most promising approach for cardiac repair after myocardial infarct (MI). However, their poor survival and potential in the ischemic environment limit their therapeutic efficacy for heart repair after MI. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of FoxC1-induced vascular niche on the activation of octamer-binding protein 4 (Oct4) and the fate of MSCs under hypoxic/ischemic conditions. METHODS: Vascular microenvironment/niche was induced by efficient delivery of FoxC1 transfection into hypoxic endothelial cells (ECs) or infarcted hearts. MSCs were cultured or injected into this niche by utilizing an in vitro coculture model and a rat MI model. Survival and neovascularization of MSCs regulated by Oct4 were explored using gene transfer and functional studies. RESULTS: Here, using gene expression heatmap, we demonstrated that cardiac ECs rapidly upregulated FoxC1 after acute ischemic cardiac injury, contributing to an intrinsic angiogenesis. In vitro, FoxC1 accelerated tube-like structure formation and increased survival of ECs, resulting in inducing a vascular microenvironment. Overexpression of FoxC1 in ECs promoted survival and neovascularization of MSCs under hypoxic coculture. Overexpression of Oct4, a FoxC1 target gene, in MSCs enhanced their mesenchymal-to-endothelial transition (MEndoT) while knockdown of Oct4 by siRNA altering vascularization. In a rat MI model, overexpression of FoxC1 in ischemic hearts increased post-infarct vascular density and improved cardiac function. The transplantation of adOct4-pretreated MSCs into these ischemic niches augments MEndoT, enhanced vascularity, and further improved cardiac function. Consistently, these cardioprotective effects of FoxC1 was abrogated when Oct4 was depleted in the MSCs and was mimicked by overexpression of Oct4. CONCLUSIONS: Together, these studies demonstrate that the FoxC1/Oct4 axis is an essential aspect for survival and neovascularization of MSCs in the ischemic conditions and represents a potential therapeutic target for enhancing cardiac repair.

Linking financial development, economic growth, and ecological footprint: what is the role of technological innovation?

The literature analyzing the ecological impacts of financial development (FD) documents mixed results. In addition, very limited researches consider the role of technological innovation in ecological sustainability even though technological innovation is indispensable to achieve technological advancement, which may help in sustainable development and ecological sustainability. Therefore, this work probes the effects of technological innovation, financial development, and economic growth (GDP) on the ecological footprint (EF) controlling urbanization and employing a STIRPAT framework. The analysis of data from West Asia and Middle East nations from 1990 to 2017 revealed cointegration in the model. The long-run coefficients produced by the continuously updated fully modified technique revealed that a 1% upsurge in technological innovation decreases EF by 0.010%. Interestingly, technological innovation is helpful to decrease EF and enhance economic growth in the West Asia and Middle East (WAME) countries. However, a 1% rise in FD boosts the level of EF by 0.0016% inferring that FD stimulates ecological degradation. Likewise, urbanization in the WAME countries raises EF levels and contributes adversely to ecological quality. In addition to this, the study revealed the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in the selected countries accounting for technological innovation, FD, and urbanization in the model. The causal analysis provided evidence of unidirectional causality from FD to EF and bidirectional causality between technological innovation and EF. The study recommends more investment in research and development and strong collaboration between the universities and industries to promote the level of technological innovation for both sustainable development and ecological sustainability. In addition, urban sustainability policies are necessary without decreasing the urbanization level.

miR-29c-3p regulates TET2 expression and inhibits autophagy process in Parkinson's disease models.

Autophagy in dopamine (DA) neurons is concerned to be associated with Parkinson's disease (PD), but the detailed mechanism remains unknown. Herein, we aimed to investigate the function of microRNA (miR)-29c-3p in autophagy in PD models. Intraperitoneal injection of MPTP (20 mg/kg) was given to C57BL/6 mice to establish PD mouse model. SH-SY5Y cells were treated with MPP+ (1 mmol/L) to establish in vitro PD model. The results indicated that in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) DA neurons of PD mice, autophagy was activated accompanied by down-regulated miR-29c-3p and up-regulated ten-eleven translocation 2 (TET2) expression. Up-regulation of miR-29c-3p inhibited TET2 expression and SNpc (including DA neurons) autophagy in PD mice. In vitro PD model confirmed that MPP+ treatment markedly down-regulated miR-29c-3p expression and up-regulated TET2 expression in SH-SY5Y cells in a dose/time-dependent manner. Moreover, miR-29c-3p up-regulation also inhibited autophagy and TET2 expression in vitro. Additionally, TET2 was proved to be targeted and down-regulated by miR-29c-3p. TET2 knockdown inhibited MPP+ -induced autophagy, whereas TET2 over-expression reversed the effects of miR-29c-3p over-expression on SH-SY5Y cell autophagy. Overall, miR-29c-3p over-expression inhibits autophagy in PD models, which may be mediated by TET2. Our finding may provide new insights for regulating autophagy to improve PD progression.

Nexus between Human Development Index (HDI) and CO2 emissions in a developing country: decoupling study evidence from Bangladesh.

Even if developing nations are entitled to take part in the attempts of decreasing carbon emissions to elude alarming environment change, the consequences of carbon lessening goals in Human Development Index of developing nations continue an issue of dispute. Based on the decoupling relationship and index decomposition, the aim of the study is for determining the nexus between the Human Development Index and CO2 emissions from the year 1990 to 2018 in Bangladesh. The outcomes exposed that Bangladesh accomplished weak and strong decoupling all through the analysis time. From the index decomposition of different factors point of view, it is revealed that variation in economic activity factor produces a significant amount of CO2 emissions which is 0.0623 tonnes, and in terms of percentage, it stands for 105%. While energy intensity and economic structure factors act an indiscernible part in the rise of CO2 emissions and in terms of percentage, it stands for 10.77% and 2.77%, respectively. Contrary, CO2 emissions' coefficient and energy structure factors are liable for decrease carbon emissions to some extent, and in terms of percentage, it replicates 7.27% and 11.97%, respectively. Based on the outcomes, the paper offers regulations for the energy policymaker of Bangladesh on carbon emissions' alleviation policies and an important decision-making indication to speed up low-carbon growth.

The effects of research and development and financial development on CO2 emissions: evidence from selected WAME economies.

Earth is in the Anthropocene era and humankind deteriorates the global environment; thus, there is a dire need for sustainable policies at all levels. This study investigates the causal and long-run association between financial development, research and development expenditures, and carbon dioxide emission including energy intensity and income level for selected West Asia and Middle East (WAME) economies along the belt and road. The long-run panel estimation findings reveal that the research and development expenditures (R&D) are negatively associated with environmental degradation, as they significantly mitigate carbon emissions. In contrast, financial development contributes to environmental degradation. The findings validated the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) phenomenon for the WAME economies considering R&D and financial development. Further, energy intensity exacerbates environmental quality. Additionally, the findings from Dumitrescu-Hurlin (DH) causal approach reveal bidirectional causal associations between financial development and carbon emissions and between R&D and emissions. The findings have implications for policy and practice to attain environmental sustainability in the selected WAME countries.

Do financial development, trade openness, economic development, and energy consumption affect carbon emissions for an emerging country?

It is agreeable that the rapid progress of civilization throughout the years came at a great price for severe environmental damages. Currently, human civilization is facing the consequences of the environmental damages that have been made for centuries. As a result, taking measures that will take civilization forward yet not make any environmental damages has become a devoir. Taking these measures requires a profound knowledge of the effect of financial development and trade openness on carbon emissions. This paper inspects the association between economic development, financial development, trade openness, and energy usage on carbon emissions for an emerging nation, like Bangladesh. The paper is based on a total of 36 years of data (1980-2016). To ascertain the existence of both long-run and short-run relationships, the autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing method is applied. The outcomes expose that energy usage has a substantial influence on carbon emissions both in the short run and a long run. The influence of economic development is momentous in the long run; however, in the short run, it has no effect. The factors for trade openness and financial development are negative and immaterial equally in the short run and long run. The present study proposes that Bangladesh's government should carry out the strategy to advance substitute energy bases that ought not to release a large amount of carbon emissions.

Decomposition study of energy-related CO2 emissions from Bangladesh's transport sector development.

The transportation sector has a dominant contribution to the fast-growing economy of the developing country Bangladesh. However, the nature of operating the transportation sector in the country requires an excessive amount of fossil energy which causes the rise of CO2 emissions. Ascertaining the impending factors and technologically to conserve energy, as well as governing CO2 emissions from this sector, are essential to attain sustainable development. The paper endeavors to determine the decomposition of driving factors that affect the relationship between Bangladesh's transport sector development and CO2 emissions due to energy consumption from the year 1990 to 2017 using the Logarithmic-Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) model. The decomposition factors are fragmented into five elements through consideration of five fossil energies which are used in Bangladesh's transportation sector. The result reveals a 106.94% growth of aggregate CO2 emissions in the transportation sector of Bangladesh. The results also show that aggregate influence of economic activity factor, population factor, economic structure factor, and energy intensity factor liable in increase CO2 emissions to 66.03%, 23.56%, 7.64%, and 6.25% respectively. On the contrary, the energy structure factor is accountable for the decrease in CO2 emissions to - 0.80%. Thus, the Bangladesh Government should proliferate mass responsiveness programs and cope with economic development through emphasizing quality of development rather than quantity which will ensure sustainable transport sector development.

Decoupling of energy-related CO2 emissions from economic growth: a case study of Bangladesh.

The objective of this paper is to appraise the decomposition along with decoupling elements that affected the nexus between energy-related CO2 emissions and the economic development of Bangladesh by applying the logarithmic mean Divisia index and Tapio model. The paper provides an effective policy that will enable Bangladesh to improve its environmental aspect and stimulate sustainable economic development. The analysis comprehends three economic sectors, and the decoupling determinative is fragmented into five elements. The results revealed that Bangladesh achieved weak decoupling throughout the analysis cycles except between the cycles of 1990-1991, 1992-1993, 1995-1996, 1997-1999, 2003-2004, 2012-2013, and 2015-2017 in which a strong decoupling occurred. From the disintegration of various components' frame of reference, it can be seen that change in scale effect causes a substantial increase in carbon emissions and economic structure together, whereas energy intensity plays an imperceptible role in the increase in carbon emissions. On the other hand, the emission is the only element that is responsible for a decrease in carbon emissions. From a comparative sectoral analysis point of view, scale effects are liable for increasing carbon emissions in all three sectors. Hence, precautionary information campaign should be taken to communicate a comprehensive countrywide moderation strategy and appropriate modification engagements for initiating a low-carbon community.

Nexus between financial development, energy consumption, income level, and ecological footprint in CEE countries: do human capital and biocapacity matter?

In recent decades, climate change and environmental pollution have been at the center of global environmental debates. Nowadays, researchers have turned their attention to the linkage between real output and environmental quality and test the environmental Kuznets curve. Majority of the studies focus on a single pollutant aspect and measure the deterioration of the environment through carbon emission (CO2) only. In contrary, the current study uses a comprehensive proxy, ecological footprint, to measure the environmental quality of the sixteen Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs). The aim of this paper is to discover the impact of financial development, economic growth, and energy consumption (renewable and non-renewable) on the environment. In addition, for the first time, the current study includes biocapacity and human capital in the growth-energy-environment nexus in the case of CEECs. In doing so, we used annual data of sixteen CEE countries in perspective of the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative and cover the period of 1991-2014. For reliable findings, this study focuses on second-generation econometric approaches to check stationarity, cross-sectional dependency, and co-integration among the model parameters. The long-run estimations of the "Dynamic Seemingly Unrelated-co-integration Regression" (DSUR) signify that the effect of economic growth on ecological footprint is not stable and validate N-shaped relationship for cubic functional form between per capita income and ecological footprint (environmental quality). Empirical evidence divulges that financial development and energy use significantly contribute to environmental degradation while renewable energy improves environmental quality by declining ecological footprint significantly. Moreover, the significant effects of biocapacity and human capital are positive and negative on the ecological footprint, respectively. In robustness check through the "Feasible Generalized Least Square" (FGLS) and "Generalized Method of Moment" (GMM) models, we found consistent result. Lastly, the "Dumitrescu-Hurlin (D-H) Panel Causality Test" demonstrates that two-way causal relationship exists between EF and GDP, EF and FD, EF and EU, EF and BC, and EF and HC, while one-way causality is running from RE to EF. This study puts the present scenario of CEE economies in front of the policymakers and suggests that they should consider the vital role of renewable energy and human capital to get sustainability.

Protective effect of sakuranetin in brain cells of dementia model rats.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a high-incidence neurodegenerative disease with complex and diverse pathogenesis. With aging of the population and continuous improvement of living standards, the incidence of AD is on the increase. Therefore, there is need to develop more effective AD drugs in order to improve the quality of life of the elderly. Sakuranetin (SAK) is a dihydroflavonoid compound extracted from plants. It has many physiological properties. In this study, the effect of SAK on spatial discrimination in a rat model of cognitive dysfunction exposed to D-galactose was investigated with respect to its effect on malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) levels, and on the expressions of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and nuclear factor-κB inhibitory factor-α (IκBα) in hippocampus of rats. The results obtained suggest that SAK may exert protective effects on brain cells through anti-oxidation mechanism. Moreover, the improvement in learning and memory impairment by SAK may also be related to the inhibition of inflammatory mediators in brain tissue. These findings provide scientific evidence that can be exploited for more effective treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

The nexus between financial development, globalization, and environmental degradation: Fresh evidence from Central and Eastern European Countries.

Global warming and greenhouse gas emissions have become a severe threat to our ecosystem. Prior studies on environment posit that ample exhaustion of fossil fuels for energy is one of the fundamental causes of environmental degradation and naturally replenished energy sources are affordable over fossil fuels. This study set out to examine the role of financial sectors and globalization (in the presence of energy and renewable energy consumption) for a sustainable environment in the panel of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in One Belt and One Road initiative perspective. The current study uses annual data of 16 CEE countries covering the period of 1980 to 2016. After confirmation of cross-sectional dependency and co-integration among variables, we applied the Dynamic Seemingly Unrelated Regression and Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality approach for long-run estimations and to check the causal relationship, respectively. The empirical findings of the study certify the existence of an environmental Kuznets curve for the selected panel countries. Globalization is enhancing the environmental quality of the CEE economies. It is important to note that energy consumption and renewable energy consumption have a positive and statistically significant whack on carbon emission. In addition, we do not find a significant link between financial development and carbon emission. Granger casualty test confirms a two-way causal relationship between economic growth and carbon emission, globalization and environmental degradation, globalization and renewable energy consumption, economic growth and renewable energy consumption, and between financial development and energy consumption. Moreover, we found one-way causality from energy consumption (renewable and non-renewable) to carbon emissions. Based on the findings, a number of appropriate policy suggestions are presented in the perspective of Central and Eastern European Countries.

The impact and effectiveness of faculty development program in fostering the faculty's knowledge, skills, and professional competence: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Faculty vitality is the main ingredient to enhance professional education and competence. Enriching the faculty vitality in key domains of teaching, assessing, research, professionalism, and administration is perceived to improve educational environment significantly and enhances the academic performance of learners. Faculty development program (FDP) has been considered as a stand-alone educational pedagogy in fostering knowledge and professional skills of faculty. However, few studies have provided objective reports about the impact of such programs in a healthcare system. METHODS: This research was conducted by selecting data sources of PubMed-Medline, Wiley online library, Cochrane library, Taylor & Francis Online, CINAHL, Springer link, Proquest, ISI Web of knowledge, ScienceDirect, EJS, EBSCO, Blackwell, Emerald and ABI Inform. This search followed a step-wise approach defined by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). A total of 37 studies that explored the impact of FDPs on medical and allied health faculty's professional development were selected. RESULTS: This meta-analysis reported a mean effect size of 0.73 that reflects a significant and positive impact of FDPs in enhancing faculty's knowledge and professional competence (z-statistics of 4.46 significant at p-value < 0.05) using the random effects model and forest plot. CONCLUSION: This article reiterates the incorporation of FDPs in all healthcare institutions for improving the academic performance of faculty with resultant enrichment of learners' knowledge and skills.