NIH, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, COB, Procurement Section, 6701 Rockledge Drive MSC 7902, Bethesda, MD 20892-7902

66 -- ANALYTICAL ULTRACENTRIFUGE SYSTEM SOL NHLBI-HL-P-96-108 POC Kathleen J. Van Steelant, Contracting Officer, (301) 435-0364. It is the intent of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to negotiate on a sole source basis under the authority of 41 USC 253 and FAR 6.302-1 with Beckman Instruments, Inc. to purchase an analytical ultracentrifuge system (Optima Model XL-I) for installation in the Section on Protein Chemistry, Laboratory of Biochemistry and Laboratory of Cell Biology, NHLBI, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland. The system is designed to detect, measure, and record the movement of molecules in solution under a centrifugal field. Designed around the Optima XL Ultracentrifuge frame, it includes a light source, a scanning monochromator, a detector, and a software package. The software package controls the system and allows users to set parameters, initiate a centrifuge run, and collect data. The system uses either an An-55 or An-60 Ti rotor capable of holding three 12 mm Model E double sector analytical cells and a counterbalance. The instrument must meet the following minimum specifications: 1) The scanning UV/Visible detection system shall operate in wavelength or radial scanning mode with a minimum radial increment of 0.001 cm and a minimum wavelength increment of 1 nm, up to 1000 data points per scan, approximately 1 absorbance reading every 20 milliseconds, 1 - 100 replicates per data point, 190 - 800 nm wavelength range, 0 to 3 absorbance display range, and control by IBM Pentium 100 MHz or better (equipped with 850 & 540 MB HDs, one 1.44 MB floppy drive, at least 8 MB RAM, a video capture board, and a 17'' SVGA display monitor, a printer, tape drive, data/fax modem, and a mouse) with a drop-down menu, status window showing current run conditions, system diagnostics, data storage in ASCII format, graphics display of data, and capacity to create user-specified data subsets automatically labelled with user-entered sample information, 2) The interference optics must contain its own separate light source, optical track and detector. (The light source must consist of a 30-mWatt laser diode operating at 675 nm and must be directly attached to the monochromator, and the two slits must be located at the base of the laser so that light passes through the cell containing the reference and the sample and is picked up by the optical track located below the refrigeration can. The detector must consist of a high resolution CCD camera with resolution of 96 X 2048 pixels that permits a scan and a plot to occur in five seconds.), 3) The interference optics and UV/Visible optics must be capable of working independently of each other or simultaneously, 4) The centrifuge specifications are: vacuum-encased, frequency controlled direct drive with a 10-year warranty, imbalance drive tolerance of q 0.5 ml or q 10% sample volume, rotor inertia speed check for operation within containment specs, air-cooled drive, thermo-electric cooled chamber, infrared radiometric temperature control accurate to q 0.5 C with operating range of 1-40 xC, constant display of pre-set and actual values, automatic dry cycle, rotor chamber pre-cooling and pre-heating, rotor independent acceleration/deceleration profiles (9 up/10 down), speed control q 20 rpm, speed readout to 100 rpm, vacuum control ( 3 microns, moisture-purging vacuum pump to remove up to 5 cc liquid per hour, microprocessor controlled electronics with battery backup, automatic restart after power loss regardless of speed, automatic rotor logging, and various calculation and conversion features (i. e., omega2t to rpm and time, refractive index/concentration conversion). Interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit proposals. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. However, all proposals received within forty-five (45) calendar days after the date of publication of this synopsis will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government not to open the requirement to competition based upon responses received as a result of this notice of intent will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Oral communications are not acceptable and will not be honored. Interested parties may express their concerns in writing. Written responses must contain clear and convincing documentation, technical information, and descriptions demonstrating the ability to meet the stated requirements. All responses must be received within 45 calendar days from the publication date of this notice and should be directed to Kathleen J. Van Steelant at the above address. Responses received via facsimile will not be honored. See Numbered Note(s): 22. (0190)

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