Security Index Research Articles

Housing insecurity and government housing support utilization among a nationally representative sample of transgender and gender non-conforming adults

ABSTRACT Transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) individuals experience greater social adversity and negative social determinants of health compared to cisgender people. This study explored housing security and service use within a probability-based, nationally representative sample. Respondents were adults (264 TGNC; 23,096 cisgender) from the U.S. Federal Reserve Survey of Household Economics and Decision-making. Chi-square and multiple logistic regression analyses compared differences between TGNC and cisgender respondents for housing security indicators and government housing support use. Multivariable analyses were weighted for complex sampling design. Despite a large proportion of TGNC respondents reporting inability to pay their bills (27.9%) and not being homeowners (62.0%), utilization rates for government housing assistance were low (10.4%). Adjusting for covariates, TGNC respondents had significantly greater odds of reporting governmental housing assistance (aOR = 2.64, 95%CI = 1.52–4.60) than cisgender respondents. There was no difference in ability to pay bills or homeownership. Findings indicate that government housing services are reaching TGNC adults relative to cisgender results, but utilization rates remain low despite indicators of high need. Factors influencing utilization and efficacy of services should be assessed in future research to support policy implementation.

Economic Analysis of the Impact of Waste on the Production and Consumption of Dates in Saudi Arabia

The goal of this study was to determine how the loss of dates affected food security in Saudi Arabia from 2000 to 2021. The researchers achieved this by using food security indicators, economic equations to quantify agricultural resource losses, and econometric analyses to develop a partial adjustment model. The results show that dates are considered a self-sufficient crop as well as an export crop, as the state resorts to exporting the surplus instead of storing it for local consumption. During the study period, there was an increase in the period of sufficiency in date production for local consumption and the period of coverage of imports for local consumption. In 2000, the volume of dates lost increased by approximately 131.22%. The total loss of land and water resources reached 31,918.4 hectares and 324.759 million cubic meters, respectively. The value of the partial adjustment coefficient (λ) indicates that about 81.1% of the imbalance in the equilibrium between the actual and equilibrium levels is adjusted within one year. Loss is considered one of the most important factors that determine food security for dates, in addition to the total value of loans financed to date factories, the total population, and the level of technological progress in the marketing and storage of dates. It was found that a change of 10% in these variables leads to a change in food security for dates of (−2.37%), 0.07, (−15.33%), and 0.58%, respectively, and the adjusted coefficient of determination was estimated at 0.93. This study recommends the following: (1) expanding the use of modern technologies for date post-harvest transportation and storage, and (2) increasing support and loans allocated to date factories to increase warehouses for cooling and storage to accommodate the increase in production and surplus consumption.

Coupling and coordination of food security and agricultural carbon emission efficiency: Changing trends, influencing factors, and different government priority scenarios

Seeking a balance between food security and carbon mitigation is key to achieving sustainable agricultural development. This study evaluates the coupling coordination degree (CCD) between the food security index (FSI) and agricultural carbon emission efficiency (ACEE) in China from 2010 to 2021 using the coupled coordination model. By adjusting the model coefficients, different government priority scenarios are simulated to explore their impact on CCD. The Geodetector method is employed to identify the influencing factors of CCD, investigate their interactions, and assess the differences in these factors across various government priority settings. The average CCD between FSI and ACEE exhibits a notable upward trend, rising from 0.4583 in 2010 to 0.6595 in 2021. Furthermore, regional disparities are widening, particularly in the major production areas. Catch-up effects exist within regions. Policy simulations showed staged interactions between food security and agricultural carbon efficiency, shifting from food security to balanced production and ecology, then to prioritizing low-carbon production for food security. Adjusting policy priorities can effectively improve coupling coordination in the short term, with increasing impact as priority shifts. CCD is influenced by policy, technology, economy, and society, varying with policy priorities. In the baseline scenario, key factors for CCD include the urban-rural income gap, technological advancement, urbanization, and farmers' education level. When the government prioritizes food security, the impact of narrowing income gaps and agricultural industry agglomeration becomes more pronounced. Conversely, emphasizing carbon emission efficiency enhances the influence of technological advancements and urbanization on CCD. Tailoring agricultural production strategies to local conditions and emphasizing interactive effects among factors is crucial for achieving environmentally friendly and high-quality agricultural development goals.

Rethinking Food and Nutrition Security: Why Income Alone Isn’t Enough in Coffee-Producing Areas of Ethiopia.

Background Coffee-growing communities in Yayu, Southwestern Ethiopia, are perceived to be food secure due to income from coffee production. However, while income ensures caloric sufficiency, it does not necessarily translate into complete food security, especially in terms of nutrient intake. Our study assessed the food and nutrition security of smallholder farm households in Yayu, with a particular focus on dietary diversity and hidden hunger. We found significant gaps in nutritional intake, especially for vulnerable groups such as women and children under five. Policy and Implications Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) targets food-insecure areas based on economic status, assuming that income ensures food security. However, our findings suggest that this approach may be flawed, as households in coffee-growing regions are often labeled food secure despite significant deficiencies in essential nutrients such as heme iron. This calls for a re-evaluation of food security policies in cash-crop-dominated areas to address not only income but also access to diverse and nutrient-rich foods. Recommendations 1. Enhance Nutritional Education: Implement targeted educational programs focusing on the importance of dietary diversity, particularly in coffee-producing areas. 2. Diversify Agriculture: Encourage smallholder farmers to diversify crops, integrating nutrient-dense foods alongside coffee cultivation. 3. Improve Market Access: Strengthen local markets to ensure that nutrient-rich foods are available and affordable during both surplus and shortage seasons. 4. Revise PSNP Criteria: Use localized food and nutrition data rather than income alone to identify food insecurity in cash-crop regions. Conclusion Income from coffee production in Yayu improves caloric sufficiency but does not guarantee nutritional adequacy. To combat hidden hunger, policies must move beyond income-based indicators of food security and prioritize access to diverse, nutrient-rich foods. This will ensure a more comprehensive approach to food and nutrition security in Ethiopia’s coffee-growing regions.

DETERMINANTS OF FOOD SECURITY AMONG INDONESIAN FARMING HOUSEHOLDS

The Global Food Security Index (GFSI) shows an increase in Indonesia's food security from 2021 to 2022. However, this increase does not yet indicate better Indonesian food security because this increase is still lower than the global average and the Asia Pacific average. The food security conditions of farming households could be a solution considering the importance of farming household food security which can deliver an impact in maintaining economic stability and reducing dependence on the market. This research aims to analyze the factors that influence the food security of farming households. The model used is Robust Regression since the Normality and Heteroscedasticity assumptions were failed. Data were taken from IFLS wave 5. Based on the results, it shows that the variables of age, gender, home ownership status, cooking fuels, electricity use and house location influence the food security of farming households. While, the variables of head of household’s education, availability of toilets and water sources have no effect on the food security of farming households

Assessment of energy security in West Africa: A case study of three countries

The study draws key energy policy lessons by assessing and comparing the energy security performance of Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Ghana. The Energy Security Index with application to West Africa is created from eight dimensions and 24 indicators using a simple additive method and non-statistical induced weights. Study results show that the main energy security challenges in West Africa are low public investment in energy infrastructure (including renewable energy), high energy prices, low electricity access, high energy system inefficiencies, armed attacks on energy infrastructure and deteriorating energy sector governance. The study recommends prioritising investment in electricity sector infrastructure in West Africa.

Determining optimal parameters of algebraic fractals in zero-knowledge authentication protocols

Most information systems, especially on the Internet, have a distributed architecture with remote access and an insecure communication channel. In such systems, the tasks of permanent authorization mean implementing time intervals of user work without re-authentication are especially actual. The problem is that repeatedly sending a password increases the likelihood of it corruption. One solution is to use zero-knowledge protocols. In these protocols, passwords are not transmitted over the channel but are included in the algorithms as parameters. However, the computational complexity, as well as the finite number of passwords, limit their use, ensuring the relevance of further research. Focusing on object of the exchange protocols security, the use of algebraic fractal sets has been proposed as a potentially infinite source of data for passwords. In this work, algorithms were developed, implemented, and tested, which proved the higher reliability of fractal protocols in comparison with the reference generator of random bits (with an error probability of 0.5). It was also noted that the calculation operations have an insignificant influence on the overall time complexity of the exchange protocol as a whole. Practical recommendations for the use of fractals with a Hausdorff dimensionally of about 1.6 on the boundary of the Mandelbrot set are given. The paper also highlights the advantages of including color information in fractal sets, which gives about 3 times improving of confidential security indicators of communication protocol. The proposed algorithms do not require specialized software and can be implemented in the majority of network information systems as an additional module.

State of Food and Nutritional Security of Urban Households in Grand Lome: Approach by Measuring Household Indicators

In West Africa, the number of people facing food crises increases each year in both rural and urban areas, due to interdependent factors. The city of Grand Lome in Togo faces an increasingly large population that must ensure access to food, which it hardly produces anymore, because of the establishment of housing and infrastructure. In addition, the increase in the price of food products in this city further weakens the purchasing power of city dwellers in the context of poverty. The objective of this article is to determine the state of food and nutritional security of households in Grand Lome. The methodology adopted is based on documentary research and field surveys. A total of 310 households were interviewed on questions allowing the construction of indicators of food and nutritional security. The results show that despite the availability of food in urban markets, the food situation of households in Grand Lome is not very good. Nearly 49% of households do not have good dietary diversity, and 48% have adopted stress and crisis strategies to access food. Similarly, in Grand Lome, the prevalence of global acute malnutrition is 2.6% of children under 59 months.

The Evolution of Potable Water Security: A Temporal Analysis of Key Indices and Trends

Water security is a critical global issue that has gained increasing attention from researchers, policymakers, and practitioners over the past few decades. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the evolution of potable water security indices from the 1980s to the 2020s, focusing on the key research themes, trends, and influential factors in the field. We conducted a comprehensive search of the relevant literature and examined the development of water security indices to provide insights into the current state of research and identify future research directions. This paper will explore the historical context, key indicators, sector-specific challenges, climate change implications, governance and policy considerations, technological advancements, community engagement efforts, and future directions for research in this critical field. Researchers and policymakers will find this review valuable as it offers insights into the existing knowledge and the areas that require further exploration to address global water security challenges.

A Novel Artificial General Intelligence Security Evaluation Scheme Based on an Analytic Hierarchy Process Model with a Generic Algorithm

The rapid development of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) in recent years has provided many new opportunities and challenges for human social production. However, recent evaluation methods have some problems with regard to consistency, subjectivity and comprehensiveness. In order to solve the above problems, in this paper, we propose an Artificial General Intelligence Security Evaluation scheme (AGISE), which is based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) technology with a genetic algorithm, to comprehensively evaluate the AGI security based on multiple security risk styles and complex indicators. Firstly, our AGISE combines AHP technology with a genetic algorithm to realize reliable, consistent and objective evaluation for AGI security. Secondly, in our AGISE, we propose implementing more effective AGI security evaluation classification and indicator settings. Finally, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our AGISE through experiments.

Impact of Internet and mobile communication on cyber resilience: A multivariate adaptive regression spline modeling approach

The spread of broadband Internet and the availability of mobile communication services expand access to digital services for businesses and the public alike. However, at the same time, it aggravates the problem of ensuring digital space security, protection against cyber threats, and the fight against cybercrime. This research aims to calculate the index of a country's resilience to cyber-hacking for 143 countries, to divide these countries into groups based on this resilience (high, above-average, average, below-average, and low), compare these results with those obtained on the basis of National Cyber Security Index (NCSI), and to identify the impact of the Internet and mobile communication prevalence in a country on this level. The selection of the countries is based on the availability of statistical data for 2022 in the databases of the Surfshark VPN service, and the International Telecommunication Union. The integral index of a country's resilience to cyber-hacking is calculated through the multiplicative convolution (with weighted geometric mean) of the number of breached accounts, the Internet penetration probability (penetration into users’ data through the Internet), and the breach density per thousand users. The influence of active mobile broadband subscriptions (per 100 inhabitants), mobile broadband basket (% of Gross National Income Per Capita), mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 inhabitants), and total fixed broadband subscriptions on the integral index of a country's resilience to cyber-hacking is investigated using multivariate adaptive regression spline. According to the calculations, France, Iceland, Montenegro, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates were the least resistant to cyber hacking in 2022. For countries with high, above-average, and below-average levels of resilience to cyber-hacking, the most relevant factor is the number of active mobile broadband subscriptions (per 100 inhabitants). For countries with an average level, it is total fixed broadband subscriptions.

Estimating a national critical mineral security index in Indonesia using analytical hierarchy process

Critical minerals are key to guaranteeing energy security and economic stability in a nation. Indonesia, as the largest country in Southeast Asia, has significant reserves of critical minerals. The current circumstances, however, pose substantial challenges for Indonesia as it strives for self-sufficiency in various sectors. Indonesia must pay attention to its natural resource management, especially that of critical minerals. This study aims to present information on securing critical mineral resources in Indonesia by constructing a Critical Mineral Security Index (CMSI). This study used a quasi-qualitative method, wherein the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used as the process of analysis. A total of four dimensions have been proposed in this study—availability, accessibility, technology-efficiency, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) dimensions with a total of 29 indicators. The results of the AHP confirm that the security level of critical mineral resources in Indonesia is 5.57. The results indicate that the availability dimension has the highest weight compared to the other dimensions, equal to 47.6%. While the accessibility dimension has the lowest level of resistance. The government should, therefore, prioritize improving the indicators of accessibility dimensions. These results have policy implications for the energy and mineral sector in the future, to further reinforce energy and mineral security on a national scale, which may ultimately support transition energy in Indonesia and strengthen national defense.

A Real-Time and Online Dynamic Reconfiguration against Cyber-Attacks to Enhance Security and Cost-Efficiency in Smart Power Microgrids Using Deep Learning

Ensuring the secure and cost-effective operation of smart power microgrids has become a significant concern for managers and operators due to the escalating damage caused by natural phenomena and cyber-attacks. This paper presents a novel framework focused on the dynamic reconfiguration of multi-microgrids to enhance system’s security index, including stability, reliability, and operation costs. The framework incorporates distributed generation (DG) to address cyber-attacks that can lead to line outages or generation failures within the network. Additionally, this work considers the uncertainties and accessibility factors of power networks through a modified point prediction method, which was previously overlooked. To achieve the secure and cost-effective operation of smart power multi-microgrids, an optimization framework is developed as a multi-objective problem, where the states of switches and DG serve as independent parameters, while the dependent parameters consist of the operation cost and techno-security indexes. The multi-objective problem employs deep learning (DL) techniques, specifically based on long short-term memory (LSTM) and prediction intervals, to effectively detect false data injection attacks (FDIAs) on advanced metering infrastructures (AMIs). By incorporating a modified point prediction method, LSTM-based deep learning, and consideration of technical indexes and FDIA cyber-attacks, this framework aims to advance the security and reliability of smart power multi-microgrids. The effectiveness of this method was validated on a network of 118 buses. The results of the proposed approach demonstrate remarkable improvements over PSO, MOGA, ICA, and HHO algorithms in both technical and economic indicators.

Electricity security in Uganda: Measurement and policy priorities

Reliable, accessible, affordable, and sustainable electricity systems are fundamental to modern and progressive economies. For developing societies, particularly those with fragile power generation capabilities and electricity networks, the electricity security metrics are incomparable and remain untested. A Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) method that follows an entropy-based weighting system is employed to quantitatively evaluate and construct an Electricity Security Index (ESI) for Uganda. Results reveal that Uganda is “moderately” electricity secure. Out of the maximum possible score of 100, a year-on-year analysis indicates that the ESI score was highest in 2007 (56) and the lowest was registered in 2015 (39). Based on the VIKOR technique, it is observed that electricity reliability contributes the most to the ESI, while electricity access contributes the least. Although expansion of electricity generation capacity is necessary, energy policies should, in equal measure, prioritize adequate investments in robust and modern transmission and distribution infrastructure. A riveting policy implication is that governance quality enhances a country's electricity system by reinforcing the other dimensions of electricity security.

Unsupervised news analysis for enhanced high‐frequency food insecurity assessment

AbstractThis article introduces an artificial intelligence (AI)‐based system for forecasting food insecurity in data‐limited settings, employing unsupervised neural networks for topic modeling on news data. Unlike traditional methods, our system operates without relying on expert assumptions about food insecurity factors. Through a case study in Somalia, we show that the method can yield competitive performance, even in the absence of traditional food security indicators such as food prices. This system is valuable in supporting expert assessments of food insecurity, unlocking a wealth of untapped information from news outlets, and offering a path toward more frequent and automated food insecurity monitoring for timely crisis intervention.

Repositioning African states to prudently engage the global (dis)order and advance peace, security and development

ABSTRACT Africa is by all accounts one of the richest continents but also displays the worst in human security indexes. During colonisation, the continent was characterised by the lack of peace, insecurity and underdevelopment. Moreover, with the demise of colonialism, Africa became a geo-political stake in the rivalries of the Cold War era in a bipolar world. The main casualty in this rivalry was human security on the African continent. Internally, challenges of governance, resources lost to the continent owing to illicit financial flows and the inability of civil society to hold African states to account have also conspired to undermine human security broadly as Africans are not free from want and from fear. Considering the above, Africa remains an underdog in international politics with minimal influence in international organisations and even with less effective influence in operationalisation of international politics. In internal matters, Africa has also failed to ensure human security as a new paradigm for the continent’s realisation of peace, security and development imperatives. Employing qualitative methodology and using secondary data, this conceptual article discusses the need for repositioning African states to prudently engage the global (dis)order and advance peace, security and development.

ANALISIS HARGA PANGAN POKOK TERHADAP KETAHANAN PANGAN DI INDONESIA

Food security ensures that sufficient, high-quality food is accessible to everyone for optimal consumption. Rising food prices can severely impact food security, especially for economically vulnerable groups. This research investigates the relationship between staple food prices and food security in Indonesia, focusing on factors like rice energy intake, egg protein intake, Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) per capita, and regional conditions on Java, Bali, and other islands. Data from all Indonesian provinces for 2018-2020 is analyzed using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression method. The Food Security Index (IKP) comes from the National Food Agency’s Food Security Index Book, and food price data is sourced from the National Strategic Food Price Information Center (PIHPS). Control data such as GRDP per capita is from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), while rice energy and egg protein intake data are from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Food Consumption Directory. The analysis reveals that rising rice prices from 2018 to 2020 significantly negatively affected food security. The study recommends evaluating rice price policies to maintain stability and enhance food accessibility. Similar evaluations for egg prices are also suggested to ensure protein availability for the community.

Assessment and forecasting of water ecological security and obstacle factor diagnosis in the Hexi Corridor of Northwest China

The water ecological security pattern is a core factor. A scientific, accurate, and practical evaluation of water ecological security provides a theoretical basis for regional water ecological management. Using water resource data from five cities in the Hexi Corridor of Gansu Province (Jiuquan (JQ), Jiayuguan (JYG), Zhangye (ZY), Jinchang (JC), and Wuwei (WW)) from 2006 to 2021, a water ecological security evaluation index system based on the PSR (pressure-state-response) framework was constructed, covering 27 factors related to water resources, socio-economics, and the ecological environment. The main obstacle factors of water ecological security were identified using the obstacle degree model, and the grey GM(1,1) model was employed to predict water ecological security. Results indicated that the comprehensive assessment index of water ecology in the Hexi Corridor increased from 2006 to 2021, showing a transition from relatively unsafe (0.319) to basic safety and then to relatively safe (0.672). The pressure and response systems were the main limiting factors affecting water ecological security in the Hexi Corridor. After a slight decline in 2008, the overall spatial distribution continued to rise, with WW City and ZY City leading since 2016. ZY had a higher safety grade proportion (25%) compared to other areas in the Hexi region. The pressure system was the most significant obstacle to water ecological security after 2006. Prediction results indicated that the comprehensive evaluation index of water ecological security would continue to rise annually from 2022 to 2031, reaching a very safe level by 2025. The evaluation results provide a scientific basis for ecological security and risk decision-making in the study area.

Secure Blockchain Assisted Attribute-Based Keyword Search for Collaborative E-Healthcare

In the age of technological advancement, collaborative E-healthcare emerges as a transformative system eliminating traditional location and accessibility barriers in healthcare services. Here, Searchable Encryption (SE) plays a key role in enabling healthcare providers to outsource encrypted medical data and search services to third parties like cloud servers, thereby reducing storage and management expenses. This intermediary approach poses challenges of single-point failure, privacy breaches, and potentially untrustworthy results. State-of-the-art public key-based SE methods use a cloud-assisted architecture that doesn’t support reliable and practical searches with fine-grained permissions. Also, such systems require additional support to address potential privacy leakages and ensure data availability at the storage server. To address these concerns, we propose a B lockchain-assisted E fficient and S ecure K eyword S earch (BESKS) scheme to enforce fine-grained keyword search privilege control while achieving practical search complexity. Our scheme employs a ciphertext policy attribute-based keyword search mechanism where keywords are encrypted using expressive access policies to build an inverted index structure. The encrypted indexes are stored on the blockchain while encrypted medical documents are stored on InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) nodes to enhance availability and ensure the reliability and scalability of our approach. Our scheme utilizes blockchain-based smart contract for efficient, secure search operations and ensures financial fairness in fine-grained searches. Search tokens are generated based on user attributes and query keywords to facilitate private searches on-chain. To enhance the search process, our secure index enables exact match for a query keyword in constant time to ensure expensive authorization operations are performed only once. Theoretical analysis suggests that our BESKS is more efficient and secure than state-of-the-art schemes. Prototype implementation results on the Ethereum blockchain network further validate its feasibility for real-world applications, demonstrating the scheme's practical applicability in collaborative E-Healthcare systems.

Coupling Relationships and Driving Mechanisms of Water–Energy–Food in China from the Perspective of Supply and Demand Security

The rapid increase in population and economy, coupled with accelerated urbanization, is placing immense pressure on the water–energy–food (WEF) system. In this context, the water–energy–food nexus framework has emerged, recognizing the interdependencies and interactions among water, energy, and food systems, with the aim of optimizing resource management through cross-sectoral collaboration to promote sustainable development. Understanding the spatio-temporal differentiation patterns of the WEF nexus and elucidating the driving mechanisms behind changes in their coupling relationships is essential. This knowledge is crucial for ensuring the security of each subsystem and enhancing the overall sustainability of interconnected systems through coordinated efforts. To address these challenges, this study first established evaluation indicators for water, energy, and food security to quantify their levels and spatio-temporal dynamics. Subsequently, the degrees of coupling coordination within the WEF nexus were calculated. Finally, the WEF nexus’s spatial correlations were analyzed by using a spatial autocorrelation model. Spatial econometric models then identified key factors affecting its coordination. The results revealed significant spatial heterogeneity in water, energy, and food security across mainland China’s provinces. From 2002 to 2022, water security improved substantially in 87% of the provinces, while energy security began to improve in the eastern regions following a phase of high consumption. Food security saw significant enhancements, particularly in Inner Mongolia and the northeastern provinces. The overall coupling coordination of the WEF nexus improved across 30 provinces, progressing toward primary coordination. However, Henan and Anhui provinces experienced fluctuations in WEF nexus coordination. Spatial correlation analysis showed upward trends and increased clustering in WEF nexus coordination. Factors such as economic development and population positively influenced coordination, while economic agglomeration, education, and effective irrigation area had negative effects. This study elucidates the complex interconnections and key influencing factors within the WEF nexus, providing a reference framework and practical recommendations for equitable resource management.