Imbeddings of polyhedra in 3-manifolds (Q1210154)

In 1989 \textit{W. J. R. Mitchell}, \textit{J. H. Przytycki} and the reviewer [Bull. Pol. Acad. Sci., Math. 37, No. 7-12, 563-565 (1989; Zbl 0758.57006)] proved a conjecture of the reviewer [Topology, 3rd Natl. Meet., Trieste/Italy 1986, Suppl. Rend. Circ. Mat. Palermo, II. Ser. 18, 415-422 (1988; Zbl 0649.57020)] that the knot spaces of the square and the granny knot have homeomorphic spines. Apparently unaware of the paper by \textit{W. J. R. Mitchell} et al. [op. cit.], the present author offers another proof of this conjecture, based on an extension of the \textit{L. Neuwirth} representation of closed orientable 3-manifolds by means of 3 permutations [Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 64, 603-613 (1968; Zbl 0162.276)] to the manifolds with boundary. The author also proves a special case of another conjecture from the 1988 reviewer's paper (op. cit.) and extends some of reviewer's results on regular neighborhoods of compact polyhedra in 3-manifolds from that paper.