Business plan of vegetarian lifestyle online shop Green Bean in Latvia

The purpose of this document is to present innovative business plan in the field of vegetarianism which is rapidly growing and currently underdeveloped market in Latvia. The idea of family business is to create vegetarian lifestyle online shop with the goal to provide wide range of vegetarian products, inspire in vegetarian cooking, help in meeting other vegetarians as well as inform and give advices about vegetarian lifestyle in Latvia. The methodology used in development of this business plan is the analysis of historical roots of vegetarianism, research about latest trends in customers’ lifestyles and eating and shopping habits under the influence of current economic crisis situation. Research also explores main reasons for people becoming vegetarian. For acquiring more specific and local trends about vegetarianism - online survey was performed with more than 350 vegetarian respondents. The analysis of data and the conclusions drawn about eating and shopping habits of Latvian vegetarians were applied in different business development tools – PESTS, TOWS, IFE, EFE matrixes as well as 7P’s marketing mix – in order to determine main target audience, product assortment, price level, corporate and business strategies as well as marketing techniques of the vegetarian online shop. According to the results of the analysis the intense growth and focus strategies were chosen for the company’s development. The positioning – highly interactive provider of wide range of vegetarian products. As a final point, implementation procedures and financial perspective is presented with positive NPV and IRR ratio highly exceeding discount rate which proves that business plan is financially beneficial.O propósito deste documento é apresentar um plano de negócio inovador no campo do vegetarianismo o qual está em rápido crescimento e o seu mercado, actualmente, ainda em desenvolvimento na Letónia. A ideia de negócio de família é de criar uma loja de estilo de vida vegetariano online com o objectivo de disponibilizar uma ampla gama de produtos vegetarianos, inspirado na culinária vegetariana, apoio para conhecer outros vegetarianos assim como informar e dar conselhos sobre o estilo de vida vegetariano na Letónia. A metodologia usada no desenvolvimento deste plano de negócio é a análise das raízes históricas do vegetarianismo, pesquisa sobre as últimas tendências de estilos de vida, dos hábitos alimentares e de consumo dos clientes, sob a influência da actual situação de crise económica no mundo e também na Letónia. A pesquisa também explora, as principais razões, pelas quais, as pessoas se tornam vegetarianas. Para obter mais informações relativas a tendências locais e específicas sobre o vegetarianismo - foram realizadas sondagens online a mais de 350 vegetarianos. A análise dos dados e das conclusões retiradas sobre os hábitos alimentares e de consumo dos Letões vegetarianos foi aplicada em ferramentas de desenvolvimento – matrizes PEST, TOWS, IFE, EFE assim como os 7 P´s do marketing mix – com ordem a determinar o principal público-alvo, selecção de produto, nível de preço, estratégias empresariais e de negócio, assim como técnicas de marketing da loja vegetariana online. De acordo com os resultados da análise, o intenso crescimento e as estratégias focalizadas foram escolhidas para o desenvolvimento da empresa. O posicionamento - fornecedor altamente interactivo de uma ampla gama de produtos vegetarianos. Como etapa final, procedimentos de implementação e perspectiva financeira são apresentados com NPV positivo e o rácio IRR excedendo largamente os valores de desconto que provam que o plano de negócio é financeiramente vantajoso

Infantile Spasms in Children With Down Syndrome: Identification and Treatment Response

Objectives. To evaluate infantile spasms in children with Down syndrome including assessment of efficacy of treatments, presence of treatment lag, and to identify risk factors that may predict the occurrence of infantile spasms in this population. Methods. Medical charts, electroencephalograms, and brain magnetic resonance images were evaluated in 37 children treated for infantile spasms at a single institution from 2005 to 2015. Results. Mean age at diagnosis was 9.16 months, with an average 1.38-month lag from spasms onset to start of medication. Prevalence of heart defects and pulmonary hypertension were significantly higher in those with infantile spams compared with those without. Eighty-one percent receiving adrenocorticotropic hormone as initial treatment experienced remission within 2 weeks, 94.1% had remission at 3 months compared with 18.8% at 2 weeks and 35.3% at 3 months for other first-line treatments. Type of treatment was the only predictor of good outcome. Conclusions. Results stress the importance of early recognition and adrenocorticotropic hormone treatment for this seizure disorder in children with Down syndrome