On existence and uniqueness of positive solutions to a class of fractional boundary value problems

[EN] The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existence and uniqueness of positive solutions for the following fractional boundary value problem D 0 + α u ( t ) + f ( t , u ( t ) ) = 0 , 0 < t < 1 , u ( 0 ) = u ( 1 ) = u ′ ( 0 ) = 0 , where 2 < α ≤ 3 and D 0 + α is the Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative. Our analysis relies on a fixed-point theorem in partially ordered metric spaces. The autonomous case of this problem was studied in the paper [Zhao et al., Abs. Appl. Anal., to appear], but in Zhao et al. (to appear), the question of uniqueness of the solution is not treated. We also present some examples where we compare our results with the ones obtained in Zhao et al. (to appear). 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: 34B15

Existence and uniqueness of positive and nondecreasing solutions for a class of singular fractional boundary value problems

[EN] We establish the existence and uniqueness of a positive and nondecreasing solution to a singular boundary value problem of a class of nonlinear fractional differential equation. Our analysis relies on a fixed point theorem in partially ordered sets.

Effect of the Canary Islands in the blockage and mixing of the North Atlantic eastern water masses

[EN] We apply an inverse model to a hydrographic cruise that completely closes the Canary Islands to investigate their effect on the water masses transports. Most central waters are transported south between the eastern islands and the African coast, with 2.5 Sv out of a total of 3.5 Sv. Intermediate waters are effectively blocked by the islands passages, with Mediterranean/Antarctic waters predominantly found north/south of the islands, and most deep waters loop around the archipelago plateau. A process model upholds the existence of intense two-way exchange between central and intermediate waters along the eastern passage, with vertical velocities of order 10 m s.

Uncovering diversity and structure of bacteroidetes populations in marine environments

[EN]One of the main questions in microbial ecology is to understand what are the processes that structure and govern the species composition of communities. Answering to this question implies the need to detect bacterial species in environmental samples or at least to define ecologically meaningful “units of differentiation”. The dynamics and distribution of different broad taxonomic groups that constitute the bacterioplankton (at the phylum or class level) has been widely studied. The different large groups are known to follow different spatial distributions and seasonal cycles, but important variations also occur at lower levels (i.e. species or ecologically distinct populations). In this thesis we aimed to study some of these aspects for an important group of marine bacteria: the phylum Bacteroidetes.