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•Glasgow University
MSc in IT project
•Previous work
•Publications
Educational video often comprises large volume data that present problems with efficient information retrieval. For example, symposia or conferences recorded onto video often represent many hours of data, which is tedious to browse for specific speakers or topics. The aim of this project was to develop an efficient and simple way to browse digital video data, focussing on data from the European Summer School on Information Retrieval (ESSIR). These video data are initially scanned and ‘Key Frames’ selected which represents significant changes in pixel content, their location stored in a suitable index file (XML format). When a user wishes to browse the data, they load up the index file, which automatically grabs the key frame and displays along a time sequence. Each key frame represents the start of the specific sequence of interest.
Development concentrated on creating two applications using Java: A Video Scanner and a Video Browser. All specific video manipulation was handled using the Java Media Framework (JMF) and Java Advanced Imaging APIs. Time and computationally intensive procedures (scanning for the key frames) was dealt with on a one-off basis, storing the results within an index file (stored in a convenient location). Various algorithms for defining the key frames were implemented, including regular or random time/frame locations to scene detection - assessed using image Histogram analysis and comparison. Once the key frames were declared, the browser application accesses the index and requests the frames, representing the different video segments as buttons (options for unscanned data are also available). Each button fires a separate window viewing the correct segment with appropriate controls (play, pause, volume, position slider etc.)
To view screenshots of the application, click below:
Screenshots
Before joining the MSc in IT I was carrying out consultancy work on agricultural spiders for a large-scale project investigating biodiversity within Scottish agricutural systems. Prior to this I was employed for a short period with Sheffield University as a post-doc investigating "invertebrate biodiversity on Gough Island". Gough Island is quite unusual, in that as a UK dependency it is about 2300 km from the nearest mainland (Brazil!!) There is no air access, so the quickest access time is about 4 days - see the map below!
Prior to this I worked with SAC as a post-doc studying agricultural biodiversity on Scottish farmland - specifically spiders - see the Erigone page to get a flavour of the work I was developing.
Before I joined SAC, I was involved in several post-doc projects working with Scottish Natural Heritage while at Durham University. The main focus concerned research on peatland habitats throughout Scotland, and three reports were produced from the work (see publications). Most of my work concentrated on the invertebrates and their distribution or abundance within different vegetation (NVC) types associated with peatland areas across the country. Other aspects of the work showed the importance of invertebrates to the breeding wading birds of areas like the Flow Country, work that will ultimately lead to the creation of boundaries for a Special Protection Area.
Prior to my peatland work, I was an research assistant at Durham studying spider and carabid distribution in both upland habitats and across woodland/pasture ecotones for my Ph.D. This work was specifically in the north of England (upland areas; Cross Fell and Great Dun Fell, forestry habitats; in and around Hamsterley Forest).
Cole, L.J., McCracken, D.I., Dennis, P., Downie, I.S., Griffen, A.L, Foster, G.N., Murphy, K.J. and Waterhouse, A. (2002) Relationships between agricultural management and ecological groups of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) on Scottish farmland. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 93: 323-336.
Downie, I.S., Butterfield, J.E.L. and Coulson, J.C. (1995). Habitat preferences of sub-montane spiders in northern England. Ecography 18: 51-61.
Downie, I.S., Coulson, J.C. and Butterfield, J.E.L. (1996). Distribution and dynamics of surface-dwelling spiders across a pasture-plantation ecotone. Ecography 19: 29-40.
Downie I.S., Coulson J.C., Foster G.N. and Whitfield D.P. (1998). Distribution of aquatic macroinvertebrates within peatland pool complexes in the Flow Country, Sutherland. Hydrobiologia 377: 95-105.
Downie, I.S., Wilson, W.L., Abernethy, V.J., McCracken, D.I., Foster, G.N, Ribera, I., Waterhouse, A. and Murphy, K.J. (1999). The Impact of different agricultural land-uses on epigeal spider biodiversity in Scotland. Journal of Insect Conservation 3: 273-286.
Downie, I. S., Ribera, I., McCracken, D. I., Wilson, W. L., Foster, G. N., Waterhouse, A., Abernethy, V. J. and Murphy, K. J. (2000). Modelling populations of Erigone atra and E. dentipalpis (Araneae: Linyphiidae) across an agricultural gradient in Scotland. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 80: 15-28.
Ribera, I., Dolédec, S., Downie, I.S. and Foster, G.N. (2001). Effect of land disturbance and altitudinal stress on species traits: a three-table analysis. Ecology 82: 1112-1129, Ecological Archives E082-012.
Ribera, I., Foster, G.N., Downie, I.S., McCracken, D.I. and Abernethy, V.J. (1999). A comparative study of the morphology and life traits of Scottish ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae). Annales Zoologica Fennici 36: 21-37.
Ribera, I., McCracken, D.I., Foster, G.N., Downie, I.S. and Abernethy, V.J. (1999) Morphological diversity of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in Scottish agricultural land. Journal of Zoology 247: 1-18.
Standen, V. and Downie, I. (1995). The effects of transplantation of a blanket bog. II. Impact on spiders. Journal of Practical Ecology and Conservation 1: 18-23.
Villalobos, L.C. de, Ribera, I. and Downie, I.S. (1999). Hairworms found in Scottish ground beetles, with description of two new species of Gordionus Müller (Nemathelmintes: Nematomorpha: Gordiidae). Journal of Natural History 33: 1767-1780.
Wilson, W.L., Abernethy, V.J., Murphy, K.J., Adam, A., McCracken, D.I., Downie, I.S., Foster, G.N., Furness, R.W. and Ribera, I. (2003). Prediction of plant diversity response to land-use change on Scottish agricultural land. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 94: 249-263.
Abernethy, V. J., McCracken, D. I., Adam, A., Downie, I., Foster, G. N., Furness, R. W., Murphy, K. J., Ribera, I., Waterhouse, A. and Wilson, W. L. (1996). Functional analysis of plant-invertebrate-bird biodiversity on Scottish agricultural land. In I. A. Simpson and P. Dennis (eds.) The Spatial Dynamics of Biodiversity, Proceedings of the 5th Annual Conference of IALE (UK): 51-59.
Coulson. J. C., Bauer L. J., Butterfield J. E. L., Downie I. S., Cranna L., and Smith C. (1995). The invertebrate fauna of the northern Scottish Flows in comparison with other peatland communities. In D. B. A. Thompson, A. J. Hester, and M. B. Usher (eds.), Heaths and moorland: Cultural landscapes. HMSO, Edinburgh: 74-94.
Coulson, J. C., Downie, I. S. and Butterfield, J. E. L. (1999). The invertebrate fauna of lowland mires in northern Britain; comparison with high altitude mires and evidence of and east-west gradient. In Standen, V., Tallis, J. and Meade, R. Patterned mires: Origin and development; flora and fauna. April 1998, Durham, British Ecological Society: 170-181.
Dennis, P., Downie, I. S., Milligan, A. L., Murphy, K. J., McCracken, D. I., Milne, J. A., Foster, G. N., Waterhouse, A. and Furness, R. W. (1999). Modelling the contribution of land cover and crop heterogeneity to biodiversity in a Scottish river catchment. In M. Maudsley and E. J. P. Marshall, Heterogeneity in Landscape Ecology: Pattern and Scale. IALE (UK), LARS Bristol: 31-40.
Downie, I. S., Abernethy, V. J., Foster, G. N., McCracken, D. I., Ribera, I., Waterhouse, A. (1998) Spider biodiversity on Scottish agricultural land. In P. A. Selden (ed.), Proceedings of the 17th European Colloquium on Arachnology: 1997, Edinburgh: 311-317.
Downie, I. S., Coulson, J. C., O'Connell, M. J. and Whitfield, D. P. (1999). Invertebrates of importance to breeding birds in the Flow Country. In Standen, V., Tallis, J. and Meade, R. Patterned mires: Origin and development; flora and fauna. April 1998, Durham, British Ecological Society: 182-190.
Foster, G. N., Blake, S, Downie, I. S., McCracken, D. I., Ribera, I. Eyre, M. D. and Garside, A. (1997). Biodiversity in agriculture. Beetles in Adversity? BCPC Symposium Proceedings 69: 53-63.
McCracken, D. I., Dennis, P., Milligan, A. L., Cole, L. J., Downie, I. S., Murphy, K. J., Furness, R. W., Waterhouse, A., Foster,G. N. and Milne, J. A. (2000). Biodiversity and landscape interactions on Scottish farmland. In T. Clare and D., Howard Quantitative Approaches toLandscape Ecology, International Association for Landscape Ecology (UK Region),Bangor: 97-106
Downie, I. S. (1997). Centromerus levitarsis (Simon, 1884) from Scotland. Newsletter of the British Arachnological Society 78: 14.
Downie, I. S. (1998). Society for Conservation Biology Annual Meeting, Sydney, 13-16th July 1998: 'Issues in Spider Conservation'. Newsletter of the British Arachnological Society 83: 6.
Downie, I. S., Coulson, J. C., Bauer, L., Butterfield, J. E. L., Davies, L. and Goodyer, S. A. (1994). The invertebrates of the Cross Fell and Dun Fell summits, Cumbria. Vasculum 79: 48-62.
Downie, I. S., Foster G. N., Coulson J. C., and Whitfield D. P. (1998). The water beetles of Badanloch Bog, Sutherland. Glasgow Naturalist 23: 31-34.
Coulson, J. C., Goodyer, S. A. and Downie, I. S. (1992). The terrestrial invertebrate fauna of the Coatham Sands and South Gare Site of Special Scientific Interest, Cleveland. Report to British Steel. pp 58.
Downie, I. S. and Coulson, J. C. (1996). Invertebrate distribution in peatland areas of west Scotland. Report to Scottish Natural Heritage. pp 24.
Downie, I. S. and Coulson, J. C. (1996). Invertebrate distribution in peatland areas of Skye, north-west Scotland. Report to Scottish Natural Heritage. pp 25.
Downie, I. S., O'Connell, M. J. and Thomas, C. J.(1996). Functional needs of peatland animals within SPA's. Report to Scottish Natural Heritage, Edinburgh. pp 168.
Murphy, K. J., Foster, G. N., McCracken, D. I., Waterhouse, A., Abernethy, V. J., Downie, I. S., Wilson, W. L., Adam, A. and Ribera, I. (1998). Functional analysis of plant-invertebrate-bird biodiversity on Scottish agricultural land. Report to SOAEFD, Edinburgh.