SOLICITATION NOTICE
66 -- Neurolucida System and Software Upgrade
- Notice Date
- 9/6/2013
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 334516
— Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Station Support/Simplified Acquisitions, 31 Center Drive, Room 1B59, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892
- ZIP Code
- 20892
- Solicitation Number
- 3034076
- Archive Date
- 10/1/2013
- Point of Contact
- Jasmine D Snoddy, Phone: 301 594 1571
- E-Mail Address
-
snoddyj@mail.nih.gov
(snoddyj@mail.nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The solicitation number is 3034076 and the solicitation is issued as a pre-solicitation notice of intent to award a non-competitive order to MBF Bioscience, 185 Allen Brook Lane, Suite 101, Williston, VT, 05495. This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures, Subpart 13.106 (b) (1), Soliciting from a single source and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. Contracts awarded using FAR Part 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures are exempt from the requirement of FAR Part 6-Competition Requirements. This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of the FAR Subpart 13.5-Test Program for Certain Commercial Items, section 4202 of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1966) and the statutory authority: (1) FAR 6.302-1-Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements 41 U.S.C. 253 (c) (1). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-69, dated August 1, 2013. A notice regarding any set-aside restrictions, the associated NAICS code 334516 and the small business size standard 500 employees. This acquisition is being conducted in accordance with the procedures of FAR Part 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) would like to purchase a Neurolucida system and software upgrade that integrates NIMH research microscope with state of the art software for the collection and analysis of neuroanatomical data. The work is part of ongoing study of the study of the neuroanatomy of the cognitive systems in non-human primate brain. In the classical model of cortical "multisensory (visual, auditory, and somatosensory) convergence" the primary and early sensory areas are thought to be involved in unimodel function, and the higher order association areas are associated with multimodal processing. However, recent anatomical and functional studies have indicated that the multimodal/multisensory integration may occur even in the primary sensory areas. The significance of these recent findings is that multisensory convergence is a multi-step process that may start in the early sensory area as well as higher order association areas. Furthermore, is it unclear how many parallel streams of multisensory processing are present in early and later stages of sensory processing in the non-human primate brain, and what is the behavioral significance of these interactions at different stages. Although these circuits have not been adequately demonstrated to date, they are amenable to analysis by neuroanatomical experiments. The major objective of the project is to map the multimodal and association connections in the monkey central nervous system that link areas devoted to different sensory modalities and association areas of the cortex. While the anatomical experiments proposed will not in themselves provide direct functional information, they will provide the framework of the system and help direct functional studies. Without these anatomical experiments it would also be difficult to interpret the functional studies. Although NIMH investigations are aimed at understanding the anatomical basis of multisensory information processing NIMH anticipate that this research will, in the long run benefit the understanding of major clinical disorders. For example, many forms of aphasia, dyslexia, childhood autism, depression, and memory disorders are related to the malfunctions of the multisensory, limbic and prefrontal networks and NIMH believe that our studies will help to increase NIMH knowledge about these disorders. Several imaging studies have found abnormal multisensory (auditory and visual social) perception deficits in children with autism. The imaging data suggests that abnormal neuronal connectivity between sensory cortices and other higher order cortical areas could be the first step in the cascade of abnormal behavior in the childhood autism and other psychiatric disorders. MBF Bioscience is the only company that writes the software. The company that's sell it and the company produces the software are one and the same. Neurolucida is a fully integrated neuroanatomical mapping system designed to work with NIMH present Zeiss microscope which will speed up and improve NIMH neuroanatomical data collection. This system controls the motorized stage, cameras to change or save settings for future use, operate the focus knob or change objectives, change filter turrets, filter wheels, and mirror cubes when acquiring fluorescent images or image stacks. Neurolucida is the only system that full coordinates with the Zeiss Axio-Imager model NIMH have and provides a full range of abilities, from tracing of single neurons to stereological quantification and mapping of large groups of cells. The Defense Priorities and Allocation System (DPAS) is not applicable to this requirement. This synopsis is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties' bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award; the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement. All responses must be received by September 16, 2013 12:00PM EST and must reference number 3034076. Responses may be submitted electronically to Jasmine Snoddy, Contract Specialist and email Snoddyj@mail.nih.gov or by U.S. mail to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), Station Support/Simplified Acquisition Branch (SS/SA), 31 Center Drive, Room 1B59, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, Attention: Jasmine Snoddy, Contract Specialist. Fax responses will not be accepted. "All responsible sources may submit a bid, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency." The name and telephone number of the individual to contact for information regarding this solicitation is Jasmine Snoddy and telephone number is (301) 594-1571.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/NIDA-2/3034076/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, United States
- Zip Code: 20892
- Zip Code: 20892
- Record
- SN03177678-W 20130908/130906235745-6b93fc53ab28e536a7fded98053b46be (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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