Let $G$ be a finite group, $H$ a copy of its $p$-Sylow subgroup, and $\kn$ the $n$-th Morava $K$-theory at $p$. In this paper we prove that the existence of an isomorphism between $K(n)^\ast(BG)$ and $K(n)^\ast(BH)$ is a sufficient condition for $G$ to be $p$-nilpotent.

We consider graded connected Gorenstein algebras with respect to the evaluation map $\ev_G = \Ext_G(k,\varepsilon )=:: \Ext_G(k,G) \longrightarrow \Ext_G(k,k)$. We prove that if $\ev_G \neq 0$, then the global dimension of $G$ is finite.

The main purpose of this paper is to study groups $G_1$, $G_2$ such that $H^\ast(BG_1,{\bf Z}/p)$ is isomorphic to $H^\ast(BG_2,{\bf Z}/p)$ in ${\cal U}$, the category of unstable modules over the Steenrod algebra ${\cal A}$, but not isomorphic as graded algebras over ${\bf Z}/p$.

We consider the problem: If $K$ is a compact normal operator on a Hilbert module $E$, and $f\in C_0(\Sp K)$ is a function which is zero in a neighbourhood of the origin, is $f(K)$ of finite rank? We show that this is the case if the underlying $C^{\ast}$-algebra is abelian, and that the range of $f(K)$ is contained in a finitely generated projective submodule of $E$.

Given a continuous map $\delta$ from the circle $S$ to itself we want to find all self-maps $\sigma\colon S\to S$ for which $\delta\circ\sigma = \delta$. If the degree $r$ of $\delta$ is not zero, the transformations $\sigma$ form a subgroup of the cyclic group $C_r$. If $r=0$, all such invertible transformations form a group isomorphic either to a cyclic group $C_n$ or to a dihedral group $D_n$ depending on whether all such transformations are orientation preserving or not. Applied to the tangent image of planar closed curves, this generalizes a result of Bisztriczky and Rival [1]. The proof rests on the theorem: {\it Let $\Delta\colon\bbd R\to\bbd R$ be continuous, nowhere constant, and $\lim_{x\to -\infty}\Delta(x)=-\infty$, $ \lim_{x\to+\infty}\Delta (x)=+\infty$; then the only continuous map $\Sigma\colon\bbd R\to\bbd R$ such that $\Delta\circ\Sigma=\Delta$ is the identity $\Sigma=\id_{\bbd R}$.