CRYOPLATFORM; CRYOPROBE

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation and a separate written solicitation will not be issued. This solicitation number is NIHLM110081 and is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation /contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-43. The North American Industry Classification (NAICS) Code is 334516 with a size standard of 500 employees. This acquisition is being conducted using Simplified Acquisition Procedures in accordance with FAR Part 13. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Digestive, Diabetes & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) has a requirement to procure Brand Name or Equal to Bruker Biospin Cryoplatform for Avance III 500 and DMX500 with the following specifications: CRYOPLATFORM for AVANCE III 500 and DMX500 BH0410 Closed-loop CryoPlatformTM cooling system allows simple operation for cooling CryoProbe(s), with standard CryoCoupler for connecting to the CryoProbe family of ultra-high sensitivity probes includes: Cryo-Cooling unit, 230V, single phase, 60Hz, average 0.5kW Annual maintenance visit at the end of the first year is included. BH0410 Closed-loop CryoPlatformTM cooling system allows simple operation for cooling CryoProbe(s), with standard CryoCoupler for connecting to the CryoProbe family of ultra-high sensitivity probes includes: Cryo-Cooling unit, 230V, single phase, 60Hz, average 0.5kW Annual maintenance visit at the end of the first year is included. Rigging, if not supplied, for removing and transporting CryoPlatform cooling unit out of lab CRYOPROBETM for AVANCE 600 [BH042599] PH2315X CryoProbeTM ultra-high sensitivity NMR probe including: Triple Resonance Inverse Detection TCI CryoProbeTM for 1H observation with 15N and 13C decoupling and 13C observation with 1H and 15N decoupling (5 mm sample diameter), 2H lock channel.. Sample temperature range 0 to 80'C. Sample Positioning Unit (SPU). Permits use of shaped tubes for minimized sample heating with lossy samples. GRASPTM III version, including actively shielded XYZ-gradient coil for use with GRASPTM III accessory. Reduced VT range. Upgrade of Cryoplatform to BH0410 Model associated with Bruker Avance 500 MHz spectrometer. Spectrometer console S/N BH077707 Current cryoplatform model number: Z45447 Current cryoplatform S/N: 1999-0021 Upgrade of Cryoplatform associated with Bruker Avance 500 MHz spectrometer in Spectrometer console S/N: BH046704 Current cyoplatform model number: Z45447 Current cryoplatform S/N: 1999-0016 Triple Resonance, triple x,y,z gradient TCI cryoprobe (PH2315X) for Bruker Avance 600 MHz spectrometer Spectrometer console S/N: BH009310 Items 1 and 2: Cryoplatform upgrades: The cryoplatform upgrade requests for the two Bruker Avance 500 MHz spectrometers is necessitated owing to the old age (about 10 years) of the existing cryoplatforms which are coming to the end of their useful life. The cryoplatforms are an intrinsic component of the complete cryoprobe systems attached to these spectrometers. Cryoprobes provide improvements of 3-4 fold in signal-to-hnoise ratios over room temperature probes, thereby opening the way to numerous experiments that simply cannot be carried out using room temperature probes owing to lack of sensitivity. The new generation of cryoplatforms which are used to cool the cryoprobes to near liquid helium temperatures (less than 25 Kelvin) is far more robust than the original cryoplatforms associated with these two NMR spectrometers. As a consequence the failure rate is decreased tremendously and the need for service is hugely reduced. Since Bruker will no longer be servicing the original cryoplatforms, it is essential that these be replaced by the new generation models. (This has already been done for all other cryoprobe-equipped NMR spectrometers). Item 3: Cryoprobe upgrade. As indicated above, cryoprobes are absolutely essential to modern state-of-the-art biomolecular NMR spectroscopy used to study the structure and dynamics of macromolecules. The sensitivity enhancements afforded by cryoprobe technology is such that nearly all the experiments that we currently carry out cannot be done with room temperature probes. However, the existing cryoprobe on the Bruker Avance 600 MHz spectrometer has two major disadvantages that are completely eliminated by the new cryoprobe being requested: (a) the existing cryoprobe only possesses a single z gradient which makes the suppression of artifacts difficult. The presence of such artifacts can often times offset much of the gains in signal-to-noise. (b) The existing cryoprobe is of the TXI variety, allowing for only 1H observe with 15N and 13C decoupling. The new cryoprobe, however, includes triple x,y,z, actively shielded gradients, thereby rendering artifact elimination trivial. Further, the new cryoprobe is of the TCI variety allowing for both 1H observe with 15N, 13C and 2H decoupling, and 13C observe with 1H, 15N and 2H decoupling. This is critical in the study of large macromolecules where 13C observe experiments offer very significant advantages in terms of signal-to-noise over 1H observe experiments. All our NMR spectrometers are being used to push the frontiers of NMR spectroscopy in structural biology, with considerable emphasis being placed on the application of these methods to AIDS related structural problems. These include work on the fusion and cytoplasmic domains of HIV-1 gp41, HIV-1 integrase, HIV-1 protease, HIV-1 capsid protein, and various host proteins that are relevant to the pathogenesis of AIDS. Mandatory requirements 1. The cryoplatforms and cryoprobe shall be completely compatible with the existing Bruker Avance NMR equipment that they will be associated with. Thus the cryoplatforms have to be able to function with the cryoprobes and gradient amplifiers and consoles associated with the two Bruker Avance 500 MHz spectrometers (S/N BH 077707 and BH 046704). Likewise, the cryoprobe has to be able to function with the cryoplatform, gradient amplifiers and console associated with the Bruker Avance 600 MHz spectrometer (S/N BH 009310). 2. The cryoplatform shall be fully automated and maintain probe electronics at near liquid helium temperatures to reduce noise contributions. The cooling system shall be of the closed-cycled variety and control all functions, ensuring excellent stability during short and long term experiments. The closed-loop cooling system shall involve at least two chambers in which helium gas is compressed in the first chamber and then allowed to expand in the second chamber, producing cold helium gas. Vacuum-insulated parts in the cooling system shall allow the coil assembly of the cryoprobe to reach very low (near liquid helium) temperatures. 3. The cryprobe shall have the following specifications: a. Shall be a triple resonance (1H, 13C, 15N) inverse detection probe for 1H observation with 15N, 13C and 2H decoupling and for 13C observation with 1H, 15N and 2H decoupling. b. The cryprobe shall be operational over a sample temperature range of 0 to 80'C. c. The cryoprobe shall make use of 5 mm sample diameter NMR tubes. d. The S/N ratio shall be ?4000:1 for 0.1% ethylbenzene (over 200 Hz noise). e. The S/N ratio on the anomeric proton of a 0.5 mg sucrose/ml D2O sample shall be ?440:1 f. The 1H pulse width shall be ?8 ?s. g. The 13C pulse width shall be ?13 ?s h. The 15N pulse width shall be ?50 ?s. i. The 1H non-spinning lineshape on a 1% chloroform sample shall be ?12/24 Hz (0.55%/0.11%) j. The recovery of the magnetic field homogeneity shall be such that a signal acquired 200 ms after a 1 ms gradient applied simultaneously in the z direction at 50% of maximum power, differs by less than 3% from that acquired without the preceding gradient pulse. This shall be measured for a sample of 2 mM sucrose in D2O solution, using 1 Hz exponential line broadening and identical phasing. k. The cryoprobe shall be fully compatible with the existing Bruker Avance 600 MHz Bruker spectrometer in Building 5 (console S/N BH009310; cryoplatform S/N: Z106902 ECL06) l. The cryoprobe shall be equipped with actively shielded XYZ-gradient coil for use with the existing GRASP III gradient amplifier on the spectrometer. m. The cryprobe shall be equipped with a sample positioning unit permitting use of shaped tubes for minimized sample heating with lossy (high salt) samples). The offeror must include a completed copy of the following provisions: 1) FAR Clause 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors - Commercial items; 2) FAR Clause 52.212-2, Evaluation - Commercial Items. As stated in FAR Clause 52.212-2 (a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors will be used Equally to evaluate offers: Technical Evaluation, Price, and Past Performance. Note: Past Performance Information: Vendors must submit a listing of the most recent contracts/awards (minimum of 3) which demonstrate similar work in nature to this Solicitation. Contracts/awards may include those entered with the Federal Government, state and local governments and commercial concerns. Include the following information for each contract or subcontract: 1. Name of Contracting Organization 2. Contract Number (for subcontracts provide the prime contract number and the subcontract number) 3. Contract Type 4. Total Contract Value 5. Description of Requirement 6. Contracting Officer's Name and Telephone Number 7. Program Manager's Name and Telephone Number 3) FAR Clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items; 4) FAR Clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items; 5) FAR Clause 52-212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders - Commercial Items - Deviation for Simplified Acquisitions. The Dun and Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and the certification of business size shall be included. The clauses are available in full text at http://www.arnet.gov/far. PLEASE NOTE: In order to receive an award, contractor must be registered and have valid certification in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) http://www.ccr.gov Interested vendors capable of providing the Government with the items specified in this synopsis should submit their quotation to the below address. Quotations will be due fifteen (15) calendar days from the publication date of this synopsis August 16, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. EST. Offersors shall provide an original and two copies of your quotation. The quotation must reference Solicitation number NIHLM110081. All responsible sources may submit a quotation, which if timely received, shall be considered by the agency. Quotations must be submitted in writing to the National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, 6707 Democracy Blvd., Suite 700W, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, Attention: V. Lynn Griffin. Faxed copies will not be accepted.