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A knotted surface in the 4-sphere may be described by means of a hyperbolic diagram that captures the 0-section of a special Morse function, called a hyperbolic decomposition. We show that every hyperbolic decomposition of a knotted surface K defines a projection of K onto a 2-sphere, whose set of critical values is the hyperbolic diagram of K. We apply such projections, called flattenings, to define three invariants of knotted surfaces: the layering, the trunk and the partition number. The basic properties of flattenings and their derived invariants are obtained. Our construction is used to study flattenings of satellite 2-knots., Comment: 25 pages, 16 figures

We study the structure of the augmented fundamental quandle of a knot whose complement contains an incompressible torus. We obtain the relationship between the fundamental quandle of a satellite knot and the fundamental quandles/groups of its companion and pattern knots. General presentations of the fundamental quandles of a link in a solid torus, a link in a lens space and a satellite knot are described. In the last part of the paper, an algebraic approach to the study of affine quandles is presented and some known results about the Alexander module and quandle colorings are obtained., 24 pages, 8 figures

We generalize the construction of Akimova and Manturov, define the label bracket for knotted trivalent graphs in $\mathbb{R}^3$ and show it defines an isotopy invariant of such graphs., 6 pages, many figures

In this survey we summarize results regarding the Kauffman bracket, HOMFLYPT, Kauffman 2-variable and Dubrovnik skein modules, and the Alexander polynomial of links in lens spaces, which we represent as mixed link diagrams. These invariants generalize the corresponding knot polynomials in the classical case. We compare the invariants by means of the ability to distinguish between some difficult cases of knots with certain symmetries.

We define biquandle structures on a given quandle, and show that any biquandle is given by some biquandle structure on its underlying quandle. By determining when two biquandle structures yield isomorphic biquandles, we obtain a relationship between the automorphism group of a biquandle and the automorphism group of its underlying quandle. As an application, we determine the automorphism groups of Alexander and dihedral biquandles. We also discuss product biquandles and describe their automorphism groups., Comment: 17 pages

We establish a relationship between the knot symmetries and the automorphisms of the knot quandle. We identify the homeomorphisms of the pair $(S^{3},K)$ that induce the (anti)automorphisms of the fundamental quandle $Q(K)$. We show that every quandle (anti)automorphism of $Q(K)$ is induced by a homeomorphism of the pair $(S^{3},K)$. As an application of those results, we are able to explore some symmetry properties of a knot based on the presentation of its fundamental quandle, which is easily derived from a knot diagram., 14 pages, 5 figures