Resource Security Research Articles

Examining the coupling and coordination of water-energy-food nexus at a sub-national scale in India – Insights from the perspective of Sustainable Development Goals

The interconnected and interdependent nature of water, energy, and food (WEF), called the WEF nexus, is essential for achieving long-term sustainability in producing and consuming of these three resources. Coupling and coordination degrees, which describe the intensities of interdependence and cooperation between different system components, are convenient for evaluating and managing the WEF nexus for a region or a nation. Although coupling and coordination of WEF nexus evaluations are essential for sharing knowledge about WEF security challenges, none of the studies has examined how coupling and coordination of WEF nexus based on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) affects a country's regions. This study developed a Coupling Coordination Degree Model to examine the WEF nexus at India's sub-national (States/Union Territories) level for 2011 and 2021 and address the SDGs. The comprehensive evaluation index and coupling degree, representing the progress score of WEF security and interaction between the WEF security, respectively, were first determined for the core WEF nexus using 29 indicators based on SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) and SDG 7 (cheap and clean energy). Subsequently, the degree of coordination reflecting the level of coordinated development on WEF sectors considering the governance, collaboration, and cooperation among stakeholders from different sectors was obtained. The results show that WEF components are strongly coupled with each other in all the Indian States/Union Territories. The results also show that the comprehensive evaluation index increased in 2021 compared to 2011, reflecting improved WEF security. However, the coordination degree of WEF security varied spatially and temporally, reflecting the variations in the coordination among the water, energy and food sectors in various Indian States/Union Territories. However, the coordination degree improved over the years, and consequently, 39 % of the States/Union Territories advanced from intermediate development in 2011 to good development in 2021. This study also identified the States/Union Territories of India that need improvement in the coordination degree of WEF security and suggested different WEF-related policies and programs for improvement. Results also identified that the development in the food sector (SDG 2) is superior to the water (SDG 6) and energy (SDG 7) sectors in most Indian States/Union Territories. This study may help administrators and policymakers identify the States/Union Territories requiring greater attention for implementing the existing or new policies to attain specific resource security.

Spatial coupling relationship between older adults and elderly care resources in the Yangtze River Delta.

The imbalance between supply and demand of elderly care resources in the Yangtze River Delta is increasing. By the older adult agglomeration, spatial cluster analysis, hotspot analysis, and coupling coordination model, this study explores the spatial coupling relationship between older adults and elderly care resources in the Yangtze River Delta in 2020 from the perspective of a supply-and-demand balance. The results demonstrate that: (1) population aging is mainly in the moderate aging stage, followed by the primary aging stage; (2) there are significant spatial differences in elderly care resources on the urban scale in the Yangtze River Delta; and (3) elderly care resources and the older adults in the Yangtze River Delta are mostly highly coupled. However, Nantong, with the highest degree of aging, has a serious mismatch in life service resources and ecological environment resources. The social security resources and medical resources of provincial capital cities with low aging are mismatched. Medical and health resources in underdeveloped areas are seriously mismatched. The social security resources are barely matched in Shanghai. A path for optimizing the spatial allocation of elderly care resources is proposed. This research offers a decision-making reference for coordinating elderly care resources distribution.

Dynamic Evolution and Copula-Based Multivariable Frequency Analysis of Meteorological Drought Considering the Spatiotemporal Variability in Northwestern China

Meteorological drought is a continuous spatiotemporal phenomenon that poses a serious threat to water resource security. Dynamic evolution and multivariable frequency analysis of meteorological drought are important for effective drought mitigation and risk management. Therefore, this study aims to analyze meteorological drought events in northwestern China between 1960 and 2018 based on the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) through a three-dimensional identification method. This study investigates the meteorological drought dynamic evolution on different time and space scales and evaluates the frequency analysis considering the spatiotemporal variability based on Copula. The results show that SPEI presents an upward trend in Northwestern China. A trend towards increased humidity is observed in arid regions, contrasted by a trend towards aridification in semi-arid and semi-humid areas, indicating that the spatial distribution of drought in the study area tends towards homogenization. The possibility of high-intensity drought events occurring in the same area was relatively low, whereas low-intensity drought events were frequent. Additionally, this study analyzes the dynamic migration process of individual drought events from a three-dimensional perspective. Neglecting any one drought variable could significantly underestimate the occurring probability of severe drought events. Therefore, a multivariable frequency analysis considering the spatiotemporal variability plays a crucial role in the formulation of drought prevention and mitigation strategies, as well as drought forecasting.

Solidification of municipal solid waste incineration fly ash with alkali-activated technology

Alkali-activation is effective municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (MSWIFA) solidification/stabilization (S/S) technology. Percolation and migration of heavy metals in MSWIFA S/S matrix is a complicated and slow process. Here, several alkali-activated MSWIFA samples are selected to comparatively investigate the long-term leaching behavior and environmental availability of Pb, Zn and Cd when exposed in different erosion environment. Acid environment posed the more serious destroy to MSWIFA S/S matrices. RAC demonstrated that potential risk level of heavy metals is higher in acid rain environment, and Cd, Zn showed the prominent risk. When soaked in acid rain solution, the surface of alkali-activated MSWIFA S/S matrices was cracked seriously and a large number of hardened slurry peeled off. However, more stable structural properties and lower heavy metal leachability can be found in alkali-activated MSWIFA/aluminosilicate. The immobilization efficiency of Pb, Zn and Cd were all above 99.0%. Microstructure and morphology results indicated that there is new phase Friedel's salts generated and much more amorphous substance such as C-(A)-S-H gel with incorporation of aluminosilicate, which all contributed much to the formation of compact and stable microstructure, then significantly facilitated the encapsulation of heavy metal. These findings will provide theoretical basis and new insight for resource utilization and security landfill of MSWIFA.

IoT Resources and Their Practical Application, A Comprehensive Study

The Internet of Things (IoT) has become a paradigm shifter, connecting an enormous number of smart devices and facilitating seamless data exchange for a diverse array of applications. The availability and effective use of the IoT ecosystem's resources are key factors in determining how its practical applications will develop as they mature. The IoT resources and their practical application across several areas are thoroughly explored in this paper. The paper begins by classifying and describing the various sensor types, their applications in various fields, and IoT resources, highlighting their contributions to real-time data collection, processing, and transmission. It then goes on to demonstrate a wide range of real-world uses for these resources, such as smart cities, education, agriculture, business, healthcare, environment monitoring, transportation, and industrial automation. However, utilizing IoT resources effectively is not without difficulties. Critical difficulties such as resource allocation, scalability, security, interoperability, and privacy concerns are identified and discussed in the paper. Furthermore, the paper also highlights future directions and emerging trends in IoT resource management, including edge computing, cloud computing, human machine integration, and compatibility with other systems. These developments aim to increase the dependability of IoT applications in diverse settings and optimize resource allocation. This paper's conclusion highlights the crucial role that IoT resources play in advancing real-world applications across a variety of areas. Researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders may collaborate together to effectively leverage the full potential of IoT resources to build intelligent, effective ecosystems that meet the needs of contemporary society by solving difficulties and utilizing developing trends.

Evolution of social-ecological system and the hydrological linkages in oasis area, northwestern China

Oases provide the most important support to human livelihood and economic activities in drylands. In recent decades, nature and humanity in oases areas have been increasingly integrated, and it is necessary to coordinate the development of the two. This study quantitatively defined the evolutionary phases of the social-ecological system based on varying correlations among agricultural, socioeconomic, and ecological factors. Three different evolutionary phases have been identified in the development of oases in northwestern China since 2000. In the first phase, the groundwater supply increased with agricultural and socioeconomic development. The subsequent phase was characterized as the groundwater supply increased with faster agricultural development. In the final phase, the groundwater supply decreased in response to urban development improvements. As social factors such as population, economic growth, urbanization, and environmental protection became more reliant on groundwater, its contribution to groundwater depletion increased from 8.37% to 76.52%, which further constrained grain production. The findings emphasized that groundwater allocation played a critical role in influencing the development mode of the oasis system. Achieving sustainable social-ecological development requires an integrated and systemic perspective that focuses on the tradeoff between food production, ecological security, water resource security and economic development.

A Comprehensive Assessment of the Hydrological Evolution and Habitat Quality of the Xiangjiang River Basin

Human disturbance and climatic factors alter the hydrological state of rivers in many ways and have a degree of negative impact on the quality of watershed habitats; quantifying the impact of both human disturbance and climatic factors on hydrological change can help improve the quality of watershed habitats. Therefore, in this research, an integrated watershed assessment framework is proposed to analyse the watershed from four perspectives: hydrological situation, environmental flows, drivers, and habitat quality. A meteorological streamflow model based on the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model was employed to analyse the hydrological evolution and quantify the influence of the drivers from the perspective of hydrological and environmental flows. The Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model was then used to evaluate the spatial and temporal evolution of habitat quality in the basin. And, finally, the grey correlation theory was used to reveal the response of habitat quality to hydrological changes. Studies have shown that annual flow and precipitation are increasing in the Xiangjiang River (XJR) basin, while its annual potential evapotranspiration is decreasing significantly. After 1991, the hydrological conditions of the XJR were highly variable, with the combined rate of change of the most Ecologically Relevant Hydrological Indicators, ERHIs-IHA and ERHIs-EFCs, reaching 26.21% and 121.23%, respectively. Climate change and human disturbance are the main drivers of change for both (with contributions of 60% and 71%, respectively). Between 1990 and 2020, the habitat quality in the basin declined over time (from 0.770 to 0.757), with areas of high habitat value located mainly in mountainous areas and habitat degradation being concentrated in urban areas in the middle and lower reaches, gradually evolving towards areas of high habitat value in the periphery. There is a strong correlation between watershed habitat quality and the ERHIs. The results of the study can provide a scientific basis for maintaining regional ecological security and rational allocation of water resources.

ICSMPC: Design of an Iterative-Learning Contextual Side Chaining Model for Improving Security of Priority-Aware Cloud Resources

ICSMPC: Design of an Iterative-Learning Contextual Side Chaining Model for Improving Security of Priority-Aware Cloud Resources

A - 31 Perceived Discrimination, Socioeconomic Factors & Subjective Cognitive Decline in Ethnoracially Diverse Older Adults Living in the United States.

Perceived discrimination (PD) is linked to poorer well-being and a higher risk of future cognitive decline. Higher levels of PD are frequently reported by people of color. Subjective cognitive decline (SCD), the self-perceived cognitive decline, has been associated with increased risk for dementia. The present study aimed to examine the relationship among PD, race, socio-economic factors and SCD. A total of 870 community-dwelling older adults (mean age = 67.0, SD = 7.6; range = 55-94; 76% female) living in the United States who self-identified as Latino (n = 126), Black (n = 74), Asian (n = 33), and White (n = 637) completed an online survey during the COVID-19 pandemic. Socio-economic factors included access to resources and resource insecurity. PD was measured with the 7-item Everyday Discrimination Scale, and SCD was measured with the Everyday Cognition scale (ECOG). Higher levels of PD predicted higher SCD in the entire sample (p-values 0.05). There were no significant associations between PD, socio-economic factors, race, and SCD (p-values >0.05). Experiences of discrimination negatively impact health outcomes and risk. Our findings provide further evidence of a relationship between PD and SCD although, this relationship was not moderated by race. Future research should aim to examine the relationship between different forms of discrimination (e.g., systemic discrimination) and SCD.

An African perspective on the Water-Energy-Food nexus

There is a need to address resource security and distributional justice in developing countries. People need water, energy, and food to sustain their livelihoods, grow economies, and achieve sustainable development. The interactions between these resource sectors form the crux of water-energy-food (WEF) nexus assessments. In this study, we have utilised the WEF Nexus Index to analyse the WEF nexus of 54 African nations. The results from the analysis were used to illustrate the opportunities and constraints for future development. Generally, African countries are performing sub-optimally in the WEF Nexus Index due to the insecurity of water, energy and/or food. The performance of countries varies with context, highlighting the need for contextual analysis in identifying challenges and potential solutions. Implementation of interventions for achieving WEF security needs to be planned from an integrated perspective to optimise synergies and minimize trade-offs. Implementation of the WEF nexus approach towards simultaneous security of WEF resources has potential to improve the WEF nexus. For example and for many African countries, policies that undergird investments in energy supply projects are needed to unlock available freshwater resources and meet food requirements—energy is shown to be a critical enabler of development. Such projects can be utilised to enhance the ability of farmers to manage water through drought-proofing rainfed agriculture, an increase in irrigation development, or both. WEF nexus-based studies, policies, and projects must be focused on the direct and indirect achievement of SDGs 1, 2, 6, 7, and 13, both in terms of access and availability, to ensure distributional justice, especially in the African context. Such actions, combined with broad public participation, can have a ripple effect on other SDGs such as SDGs 5, 10, and 17, thereby reducing inequalities and building partnerships to attain these aspirational goals. The assessment of Africa’s relatively low scores in terms of the WEF Nexus Index does not represent a negative narrative. Instead, it provides an entry point to identifying hotspots and understanding the underlying challenges, through which more detailed analyses can lead to identified solutions and policies. Many African countries are trapped in an environment that could be termed a ‘poverty-unemployment-inequality nexus’ (due to the interlinkages that exist between these ‘wicked’ problems). The WEF Nexus Index provides high-level insights into these opportunities.

An Advanced Cloud Data Streaming Framework for Optimized Container Resource Allocation, Job Scheduling, And Security Enhancement

In the realm of cloud data streaming, the central concerns are Container resource allocation and job scheduling. Cloud infrastructure relies on container virtualization to facilitate construction and migration processes. Previous models have employed migration techniques to manage cloud container allocation and resource scheduling, but these come at the cost of increased response time and network traffic. To address these challenges, a novel approach is introduced, the Reduced Optimal Migration model (ROM). This model selectively triggers migration processes based on recommendations, optimizing resource allocation through a Machine Learning (ML) Algorithm. Job scheduling is enhanced through a dedicated Task Scheduling Algorithm. For robust data security during migration, a security-based technique is implemented in the 'Security-based Container Scheduling Model,' which ensures data integrity and safeguards against attacks. This system operates seamlessly online and offline, utilizing Edge Computing. During offline periods, defensive containers maintain data security until the system owner restores online connectivity. This holistic framework proves highly effective in resolving complex issues associated with large-scale optimization of resource allocation, migration, and security. Empirical results confirm its efficiency and security enhancements. The proposed work introduces an advanced cloud data streaming framework that optimizes container resource allocation and job scheduling while enhancing security during migration. It proves effective in addressing the challenges inherent in large-scale cloud data streaming processes.

Household Food Security through Wetland Resources with Adaptation to Climate Change: An Empirical Analysis of Ranikor, Meghalaya, India

Wetland ecosystems are the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth and include marshes, lakes, rivers, flood basins, estuarine deltas, ponds, rice fields, and marine water areas where the depth at low tide does not exceed 6 m. Tangible and intangible diverse resources and products of wetland functions have historically provided a source of income and livelihood for human beings. The present study investigated the different causes and the perceived indicators of food insecurity among the wetland dwellers, determined the wetland contribution to household food security and assessed the determinants of wetland based income with a view on the adaptive strategies adopted by the households residing around Ranikor, Meghalaya. Data was collected from 70 wetland resource-user households which was analyzed using simple percentage, t-test, regression analysis and Garrett ranking technique. The wetland resources contributed significantly to the household food security in the study area. It was found that climate change and limited labour were the major causes of food insecurity. Factors like household size, agricultural land area and age of the respondent determined the extraction of resources. Moreover, the study revealed crop diversification, re-digging of canal, construction of embankments and poultry rearing as the adaptive measures in the face of climate change having merits. The study recommends the need to design appropriate food production technologies that ensure sustainable use of wetland resources for food security as increasing population coupled with climate change will have drastic impact on the households relying on wetland for food security and income.

Learning agent-based security schema mitigating man-in-the-middle attacks in fog computing

<div style="text-align: start;" align="center"><span lang="EN-US">The fast emerging of internet of things (IoTs) has introduced fog computing as an intermediate layer between end-users and the cloud datacenters. Fog computing layer characterized by its closeness to end users for service provisioning than the cloud. However, security challenges are still a big concern in fog and cloud computing paradigms as well. In fog computing, one of the most destructive attacks is man-in-the-middle (MitM). Moreover, MitM attacks are hard to be detected since they performed passively on the network level. This paper proposes a MitM mitigation scheme in fog computing architecture. The proposal mapped the fog layer on software-defined network (SDN) architecture. The proposal integrated multi-path transmission control protocol (MPTCP), moving target defense (MTD) technique, and reinforcement learning agent (RL) in one framework that contributed significantly to improving the fog layer resources utilization and security. The proposed schema hardens the network reconnaissance and discovery, thus improved the network security against MitM attack. The evaluation framework was tested using a simulation environment on mininet, with the utilization of MPTCP kernel and Ryu SDN controller. The experimental results shows that the proposed schema maintained the network resiliency, improves resource utilization without adding significant overheads compared to the traditional transmission control protocol (TCP).</span></div>

Analysis and optimization of validation procedure in blockchain-enhanced wireless resource sharing and transactions

To ensure the security of resource and intelligence sharing in 6G, blockchain has been widely adopted in wireless communications and applications. Although blockchain can ensure the traceability and non-tamperability of data in the concatenated blocks, it cannot guarantee the honest behaviors of users in the application before the generation of transactions. Thus, additional technologies are required to ensure that the source of blockchain data is reliable. In this paper, the detailed procedure is designed for the application-oriented task validation in the blockchain-enhanced computing resource sharing and transactions in ultra dense networks (UDN). The corresponding queuing model is built and analyzed with the consideration of the wireless re-transmission and the probability of malicious deception by users. Based on the analysis results, the UDN deployment is optimized to save network cost while ensuring latency performance. Numerical results verify our analysis, and the optimized system deployment including the number and service capacities of both base stations and mobile edge computing (MEC) servers are also given with various system settings.

Resource Allocation for Secure MIMO-SWIPT Systems in the Presence of Multi-Antenna Eavesdropper in Vehicular Networks.

In this paper, we optimize the secrecy capacity of the legitimate user under resource allocation and security constraints for a multi-antenna environment for the simultaneous transmission of wireless information and power in a dynamic downlink scenario. We study the relationship between secrecy capacity and harvested energy in a power-splitting configuration for a nonlinear energy-harvesting model under co-located conditions. The capacity maximization problem is formulated for the vehicle-to-vehicle communication scenario. The formulated problem is non-convex NP-hard, so we reformulate it into a convex form using a divide-and-conquer approach. We obtain the optimal transmit power matrix and power-splitting ratio values that guarantee positive values of the secrecy capacity. We analyze different vehicle-to-vehicle communication settings to validate the differentiation of the proposed algorithm in maintaining both reliability and security. We also substantiate the effectiveness of the proposed approach by analyzing the trade-offs between secrecy capacity and harvested energy.

Synergy of water use in water-energy-food nexus from a symbiosis perspective: A case study in China

The water-energy-food nexus tackles water, energy, and food security from an integrated management perspective of elemental synergy, system control, and cross-sector collaboration. Along with inter-regional differentiation in natural resource endowments and economic development, water, energy, and food systems exhibit dynamic, sensitive, and uncertain interactions. Owing to the complexity and diversity of the nexus, its synergistic mechanisms and regulation techniques still require more in-depth research. This paper constructs an integrative analytical framework based on symbiosis theory to evaluate the synergistic type, driver, and effect of water use for energy and food production in the Chinese mainland during 1997–2016 with multiple indicators. The results showed that Gansu and Hebei were in the water-energy synergy scenario in 2016, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Shandong were in the water-food synergy scenario, and 21 provinces were in the water-energy-food synergy scenario. The energy and food security indices of the production base were highly adaptable. When grey water footprint was included in the water security index, the main grain producing areas & coal bases decreased by 88.6%. This research provides an extensive examination of symbiosis theory, which has research value for the multidisciplinary assessment of resource security and sustainability of the water-energy-food nexus.

Investigating the role of internal security resources in post-adoption satisfaction with the Security-as-a-Service model: an organizational mindfulness perspective

PurposeMany organizations struggle to utilize security-as-a-service (SecaaS) advantages effectively, thus challenging the assumption that adopting the SecaaS model will necessarily lead to post-adoption satisfaction. This research paper draws on the organizational mindfulness theory and investigates the factors that lead to satisfaction with SecaaS.Design/methodology/approachThe key informant-based survey approach was employed to collect data from 215 organizations that were using the SecaaS model. PLS was used for data analysis.FindingsOrganizations with greater extents of internal security resources report higher satisfaction levels with SecaaS, thanks to the mediating effect of organizational mindfulness, and that organizations with extensive and mature security auditing were especially well-positioned to experience satisfaction with SecaaS.Originality/valueThis research provides new theoretical insights into the conditions under which organizations' post-adoption satisfaction with the SecaaS model is shaped by investigating the role of internal security resources and organizational mindfulness.

A Review of Virtual Water Research

A comprehensive and objective understanding of the amount of water resources occupied by human activities is an important way to improve the existing water resources management. The theory of virtual water is a brand-new concept proposed at the end of the 20th century to solve the problems of water resource shortage and water resource security. Based on a brief analysis of virtual water and its related concepts, this paper introduces the research status of related theories at home and abroad, discusses from the perspectives of water footprint, virtual water quantitative calculation, virtual water trade, virtual water strategy, etc., and points out that virtual water plays a vital role in maintaining regional peace. Stabilizing and promoting regional economic development is of great significance. It also examines the imperfections in the existing theories of virtual water and looks forward to the future research directions of virtual water.

Protecting critical infrastructure with game theory, optimization techniques, and AI algorithms

In light of recent geopolitical developments, Europe and Poland are acutely aware of the urgent importance of infrastructure security. Despite heightened interest and increased investments, our security resources remain severely limited, rendering continuous protection for every potential target unattainable. Consequently, the strategic allocation of security resources becomes an ongoing imperative. This paper presents a short introduction to the core principles behind advanced methods that facilitate automated decision-making in security resource allocation. These methods leverage artificial intelligence (AI), game theory, and optimization techniques, and have demonstrated their effectiveness through multiple real-life deployments in the USA. We also provide a concise overview of this exciting body of research and discuss the solutions and software developed by our team, “AI for Security” at the IDEAS NCBR research institute to protect critical infrastructure in Poland and in Europe.

Can water release from local reservoirs cope with the droughts of downstream lake in a large river-lake system?

Lake is an important component of the Earth’s surface water bodies. Frequent and serious drought events in lakes have affected the security of regional water resources and caused the degradation of the lake ecosystem. Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China, has been suffering from increasingly severe hydrological droughts. This study simulated and investigated the effects of water release from local reservoirs in dry season on hydrological droughts in Poyang Lake based on a hydrodynamic model MIKE 21, and quantified the effectiveness of the joint operation of local reservoirs and the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR). Major results showed that the water level of Poyang Lake during the dry period was significantly raised by the water release from local reservoirs, especially in the northern lake area. The average and the lowest lake level increased from 10.99 m to 11.18–11.59 m and from 9.97 m to 10.14–10.50 m at Xingzi station, respectively. Meanwhile, both the duration of low water and the drought severity/intensity (DS/DI) decreased significantly, with the duration decreasing from 128 days to 105–115 days for typical threshold lake level of 12.0 m, and the DS and DI decreasing from 176.6 m and 1.38 m/day to 117.6–155.3 m and 1.12–1.35 m/day, respectively. Moreover, the release oflocal reservoirs shortened the exposure duration of beach wetland, from nearly 3 months to about 1.5–2.5 months at the northern channel of Poyang Lake. The area with long exposure duration (>120 days) was also significantly reduced. In addition, the hydrodynamic simulations revealed that the joint operation of local reservoirs and the TGR further raised the average and the lowest lake level and decreased the duration of low water and drought severity and intensity. Outcomes of the study provided valuable references for mitigating lake droughts in complex river-lake-catchment system.