Inactive

Purpose and Objectives: The intent of this Sources Sought Notice is to identify in locating capable small businesses, including Service Disabled and Veteran Owned small businesses capable of providing... Purpose and Objectives: The intent of this Sources Sought Notice is to identify in locating capable small businesses, including Service Disabled and Veteran Owned small businesses capable of providing the items as listed in the attached Statement of Need. NAICS Code 334516, Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing. These items are for the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz, Department of Veteran Affairs, Philadelphia VA Medical Center, Research Department, Philadelphia, PA 19104 Responses to this Sources Sought Notice should demonstrate the firm's ability, capability, and responsibility to provide the principal components of supplies listed in the attached document. Responses should include the following information: Business name, address, Point of Contact, business size info. All information is to be submitted via email at justin.erdley@va.gov. Information provided will not be returned. All responses shall be in the English Language. Responses are due by 12:00 PM EST, Monday, April 27, 2020. No submissions will be accepted after this date and time. Questions can be submitted electronically to justin.erdley@va.gov. This is a Sources Sought Notice and submissions will be used for informational and planning purposes only. This notice does not constitute a formal Request for Quote (RFQ), nor is the government obligated to issue an RFQ. In addition, the Government does not intend to pay for any information provided under this notice. The Government is not obligated to notify respondents of the results of this survey. Department of Veterans Affairs Philadelphia VA Medical Center STATEMENT OF NEED 1. Contract Title. Equipment purchase of Cyclical Intermittent Hypoxia for MICE for the Research Laboratory of Diane C. Lim, MD in the Division of Sleep Medicine 3. Background. Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is very common in the US and getting more and more common as the population gets older and more obese. In addition, out of all the cancers, lung cancer has the highest death rate and is higher than the next 3 cancers combined for both men and women. Recently data shows that people with cancer have a higher rate of death if they have OSA. Cyclical intermittent hypoxia (CIH), the cycling of oxygen levels from normal to low then back to normal, is seen in patients with obstructive sleep apnea, anywhere from 5 times an hour to over 100 times an hour. In our previous research, we found that severe CIH (where the oxygen levels go down extremely low about 60 times an hour for 12 hours during sleep) makes lung cancer in mice progress faster compared to mice breathing normal room air. This research is the next step in asking how does CIH cause lung cancer in mice to progress faster compared to mice breathing room air. This research is important because it is this progression of cancer that ultimately kills people. One possible way CIH makes cancer progress faster is that CIH makes the immune system dysfunctional. Many scientists believe that everyone gets cancer multiple times in our life, but our immune system can detect these abnormal cancer cells and kills them before they become a problem. We think that the CIH causes changes in the immune system that favors a situation where cancer cells can hide from the immune system and prevent being killed by the immune system. Because studying the effects of the immune system on cancer is very complicated it cannot be studied in a dish or in a computer program. Because the immune system has many key organs that are involved in the production and education of the many different immune cells, we cannot study this in humans. For example, the bone marrow is where most immune cells are made- in a study that uses mice such as this study, we can harvest the bone marrow and understand the effect of CIH on immune cell populations. Another example is the thymus is involved in educating T cells as to what is self (therefore do not kill) and what is non-self (must be foreign like bacteria or virus or cancer cell, therefore DO kill)- in a study that uses mice, we can harvest the thymus and understand the effect of CIH on the education of T cells. The same goes for the spleen, lymph nodes, left lung (site of primary cancer) and any other organ that the cancer spreads to. Therefore the benefits of knowing how CIH alters the immune system in the setting of cancer may teach us how to help the immune system get rid of the cancer, and this is good for society- to have less deaths due to cancer--- and would hopefully outweigh the pain and distress caused to mice in this research. The contractor will be able to provide cyclical intermittent hypoxia system with the following specifications: ELECTRICAL POWER: 115VAC/60Hz or 240VAC/50Hz @ 6.3A. DISPLAY: 2.4" Graphic LCD COMMUNICATIONS: 1 serial communication RS232/RS485 port; 1 Ethernet TCP/IP port CONTROL RANGE: 0 - 95% oxygen. ACCURACY: 2% full scale. RESOLUTION: to 0.1% oxygen, display and set point. OXYGEN SENSOR: Maxtec (USA), Model Max-23 (p/n R116P06). GAS SOURCE: compressed nitrogen and air (or oxygen) tanks or generators. GAS SUPPLY: pressurized gas. GAS SUPPLY LINE: 1/4 inch O.D. GAS SUPPLY LINE PRESSURE: 40-60 PSI. GAS INFUSION RATE: 1-80 L/Min. each control gas into each cage. ALARM OUTPUT: visible screen. ALARM MODES: Air (oxygen) pressure is low (<25 PSI). WEIGHT: 20 lbs. DIMENSIONS: 8.5"H x 21"W x 15.5"D. DISCLAIMER This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. End of Document