1. A video-signal recording and playback apparatus for recording and playing back a video signal of a television-broadcast program, said video-signal recording and playback apparatus comprising:
a recording mechanism configured to record a video signal onto an information-recording medium;
an extraction mechanism configured to extract a representative picture from a video signal to be recorded;
an attachment mechanism configured to associate an evaluation value to the representative picture extracted by said extraction mechanism, said evaluation value being indicative of a degree of likeness of the representative picture to other representative pictures;
a preservation mechanism configured to preserve a representative picture extracted by said extracting means in said information-recording medium; and
a thinning mechanism configured to reduce a number of representative pictures preserved by said preservation mechanism in said information-recording medium based on said evaluation value,
wherein said attachment mechanism is configured to associate the evaluation value to the representative picture by reducing other evaluation values of representative pictures adjacent on a time axis.
2. A video-signal recording and playback apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said extraction mechanism, said attachment mechanism, said preservation mechanism, and said thinning mechanism are configured to carry out their respective pieces of processing concurrently with processing carried out by said recording means to record a video signal onto said information-recording medium.
3. A video-signal recording and playback apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said attachment mechanism is configured to associate evaluation values to representative pictures in such a way that said evaluation values are dispersed along said time axis.
4. A video-signal recording and playback apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said thinning mechanism is configured to carry out a thinning process on representative pictures recorded by said preservation mechanism on said information-recording medium on the basis of resemblance of said representative pictures.
5. A video-signal recording and playback method adopted in a video-signal recording and playback apparatus for recording and playing back a video signal of a television-broadcast program, said video-signal recording and playback method comprising:
recording a video signal onto an information-recording medium;
extracting a representative picture from said video signal to be recorded;
attaching an evaluation value to said representative picture extracted at said extracting step, said attaching including reducing other evaluation value of representative pictures adjacent on a time axis, said evaluation value being indicative of a degree of likeness of the representative picture to other representative pictures;
preserving said representative picture extracted at said extracting step in said information-recording medium; and
carrying out a thinning process on a number of representative pictures preserved at said preserving step in said information-recording medium on the basis of said evaluation value attached by said attaching means.
6. A recording medium for storing a program to be executed by a video-signal recording and playback apparatus for recording and playing back a video signal of a television-broadcast program, wherein said program is a computer readable program, execution of instructions of program implement a method comprising:
recording a video signal onto an information-recording medium;
extracting a representative picture from said video signal to be recorded;
attaching an evaluation value to said representative picture extracted at said extracting step, said attaching including reducing other evaluation values of representative pictures adjacent on a time axis, said evaluation value being indicative of a degree of likeness of the representative picture to other representative pictures;
preserving said representative picture extracted at said extracting step in said information-recording medium; and
carrying out a thinning process on a number of representative pictures preserved at said preserving step in said information-recording medium on the basis of said evaluation value attached by said attaching means.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of forming a cytocompatible alginate gel, comprising:
providing an alginate;
dispersing substantially homogeneously within the alginate a plurality of cells;
dispersing substantially homogeneously within the alginate particles of a micronized tissue construct, wherein the particles are less than 100 microns in size and constitute less than 10% by weight of the alginate; and
adding to the alginate a divalent metal cation to form an alginate gel.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of cells are selected from the group consisting of localized cardiac progenitor cells, mesenchymal stem cells, bone marrow derived mononuclear cells, adipose tissue derived stem cells, embryonic stem cells, umbilical cord blood derived stem cells, smooth muscle cells and skeletal myoblasts.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the micronized tissue construct are selected from the group consisting of urinary bladder matrix (UBM) and small intestinal sub-mucosa (SIS).
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the divalent metal cation comprises Ca++.
5. A composition comprising an alginate gel prepared by the method of claim 1.