On the Kontsevich integral for knotted trivalent graphs (Q982415)

\textit{J. Murakami} and \textit{T. Ohtsuki} [Commun. Math. Phys. 188, No. 3, 501--520 (1997; Zbl 0938.57022)] constructed an extension of the Kontsevich integral of knots to knotted trivalent graphs. Their extension, which built upon \textit{V. G. Drinfel'd's} theory of associators [Leningr. Math. J. 1, No. 6, 1419--1457 (1990); translation from Algebra Anal. 1, No. 6, 114--148 (1989; Zbl 0718.16033) and Leningr. Math. J. 2, No. 4, 829--860 (1991); translation from Algebra Anal. 2, No. 4, 149--181 (1990; Zbl 0728.16021)], commutes with oriented switches, edge deletions, edge unzips, and connected sums. The present author constructs a step-by-step definition of such an extension, using elementary Kontsevich integral methods and combinatorial constructions, to get a one-parameter family of corrections that all yield invariants well behaved under the graph operations above.