WeChat is a social mobile application with voice and text messaging timeline and several social features like ‘Message in a Bottle'. WeChat, a popular instant messaging tool run by Tencent Holdings, aims to help users access mobile services without downloading separate apps, which experts said may challenge the business of smartphone app distributors such Apple Store.

This new feature, named ‘Mini Programs', allows WeChat users to find a variety of services such as ticket buying by scanning a QR (quick-response) code, saving them the trouble of installing a number of different apps on smart devices, according to the transcript of a speech by Zhang Xiaolong, Tencent's senior executive vice president, on Wednesday. The new function is expected to come online on January 9.

    Zhang, known as the father of WeChat, emphasized that ‘Min Programs' is not a mobile app distributing function.

    Still, experts and app developers said that the rollout (推出) of ‘Mini Programs' on WeChat will erode the market share of app distributors like Apple Store in China.

     “‘Mini Programs' will attract lots of start-ups, because a program based on WeChat can help them build up businesses at much lower costs,” a Shanghai-based app developer, told the Global Times Wednesday.

    If a start-up wants to promote its business via a separate application, it has to hire a special team to develop two different apps— one each for iOS and Android.

    Lsiunched in 2011, WeChat has evolved to include services such as ‘Order Taxi', ‘Food Delivery', e-commerce and payments from just an instant messaging app.

    It is widely acknowledged that nearly every kid might come across some kind of school bullying(欺侮), however, the age at which kids were first bullied could influence how strongly they are affected, suggests a new study. And, surprisingly, it is not the youngest kids who are hurt the most in the long term.

    Bullying can have long-lasting effects, but particularly when it begins in adolescence(青春期), the researchers say, people subjected to either verbal or physical bullying are known to be at greater risk of developing depression, anxiety disorders or to behave violently. But not everyone reacts in this way.

    Children who were bullied for the first time before they hit adolescence seem to get over it, but those who are bullied for the first time later on in adolescence seem to become more aggressive(富有攻击性的) or are more likely to turn to drinking as a means of coping with it. These are the conclusions of psychologists Matthew Newman and colleagues of Texas at Austin, US.

    The team gave questionnaires to nearly 1,500 college students about their experience of physical and psychological bullying before adolescence- before high school- and in late adolescence- at high school. They assessed mood and mental state, judging by signs of anxiety or depression, such as sleeplessness. The group was also questioned about how they would react to certain challenges, such as humiliation.

    People who were bullied all showed slightly higher levels of stress. But while those bullied earlier in life seemed to respond normally to provocation (煽动), people bullied for the first time late in adolescence are more withdrawn and sensitive to violence.

    There are also sex differences between those bullied for the first time during adolescence: females are more likely to react aggressively when provoked and males are much more likely to turn to drinking to escape bad situations. The best solution in all cases was strong social support, whether from friends, family or school. Those with no one to share their problems with suffered the most.

    So perhaps it is best not to shelter children completely from bullying early on, suggests Newman, "They may get stressed, but unhealthy coping really jumps out when they are bullied for the first time later on."

    It's Friday night. You're looking through your Instagram (a photo-sharing app) feed when you see it: a photo of your friends hanging out without you.

    Why didn't anyone invite you? What are they doing later? Should you text them? What if no one responds (回应)?

    Sounds like a typical case of FOMO.

    FOMO, or "fear of missing out", is a form of anxiety that causes people to feel like they're missing out on something. The word was added to The Oxford English Dictionary last year. But just how serious is FOMO?

    According to a study by a US research organization, JWTIntelligence, 47 percent of teen millennials (those who are 13-17 years old now) feel upset or nervous when they learn that their friends are doing something they're not. And 41 percent said they spread themselves too thin, trying to do too many things at one time to avoid FOMO.

    Today's technology is a big cause of FOMO, according to Jonathan Pochyly, an adolescent psychiatrist (青少年精神病学专家) at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago.

    "Technology is one of the things that makes life special for adolescents these days," he explained.  

    "There's a lot of focus on what everyone else is doing. It became a trend, so there's pressure to keep up with it."

    As social media (社交媒体) feeds are always updating us with our friends' activities, it's easier than ever to feel left out. So what can we do?

    To fight against FOMO, Jones freshman Emmy Brewer just calls people and talks to them.

    "I'd be upset for a bit, but then I'd realize that I should be reaching out to them," she said.

    Oak Park and River Forest High School senior James Cullinane said he fights off FOMO by living in the now.

    "If I'm hanging out with my friends, or just sitting at home on my couch, I think it's best to stay off social media and focus on what I'm doing in the moment," Cullinane said.

    While FOMO will continue to affect (影响) teenagers in the future, Pochyly said that he believes these feelings are just side effects of growing up.

    "These types of interactions (交往) with people are … a function (功能) of kids being more independent, looking for connections with other people, moving away from just being a child in a home, and moving toward adulthood," he said.

    Everyone should be so lucky as to have a friend like Francia Raisa. On Thursday, singer and actress Selena Gomez, 25, used Instagram to explain why she was "laying low" this summer. She posted a photo of herself in a hospital bed with her friend Francia Raisa holding hands. She said she recently received a kidney transplant from her best friend because of complications(并发症) from lupus(狼疮), an autoimmune disease, which means it is the result of the immune system attacking normal tissue, including the kidneys, brain, heart and lungs.

    People with lupus may first experience tiredness, joint pain or a little bit of rash(皮疹) on their bodies and can go for a long time before their doctors realize it is more serious. Many people see two or four doctors before the real problem is picked up. According to Dr. Kyriakos Kirou, roughly a third to one-half of people with lupus develop kidney disease, and up to one in five of them will eventually need a transplant, sometimes because they weren't treated with effective drugs to prevent the immune system from attacking the kidneys. Though Gomez said that she was "very well now," she warned about the dangers of not taking medical diagnoses seriously, like she initially did.

    Her Instagram post also called attention to two major health topics: the need for living organ donators and the fact that Gomez represents three groups more likely to be diagnosed with lupus and lupus-related kidney disease. Nine out of 10 people diagnosed with lupus are women, and most develop the disease between the ages of 15 to 44. And lupus is two to three times more common among women of color, including Hispanic women, according to the Lupus Foundation.

    Raisa is Latina, and Gomez's father is of Mexican origin. While it's not essential that the organ donator and receiver be of the same ethnicity, people who share a similar background sometimes are better matched, according to data from the United Network for Organ Sharing.

    Like their ancient toga-wearing counterparts, modern philosophers continue to disagree on the nature of freewill. Do we really have any control over the choices we make and the things we desire, and if so, to what degree?

    Theories of freewill vary, but the ancient words of Plato still line up with our modern perceptions(概念) of temptation and willpower. The respected Greek philosopher argued that the human experience is one of constant struggle between the intellect and the body, between rationality and desire. Along these lines, true freedom is only achievable when willpower unchains us from bodily, emotional, instinctual slavery.

    You can find similar thoughts throughout world religions, most of which offer a particular and often difficult path to rise above our darker natures.

    And science? Well, science mostly agrees with all of this. Willpower is all about overcoming your natural desires to eat cupcakes, skip your morning workout, play games on mobile phone, hit the snooze alarm and check your e-mail during a funeral.

    Your willpower, however, is limited. If life were a video game, you'd see a glowing "willpower" or "ego"(自我) meter at the top of the screen next to your "life" meter. Successfully resist one temptation, and the meter drains a little. The next temptation drains the "willpower" meter even more, until there's nothing left at all.

    Our modern scientific understanding of willpower in large part stems from a 1996 research experiment involving chocolate and radishes(小红萝卜). Psychologist Roy Baumeister led a study in which 67 test subjects were presented with tempting chocolate chip cookies and other chocolate-flavored treats before a persistence-testing puzzle. Here's the catch: The researchers asked some of the participants to withdraw from sweets and snack on radishes instead.

    Baumeister's results told a fascinating story. The test subjects who resisted the sweet stuff in favor of radishes performed poorly on the persistence test. They simply didn't have the willpower left to resist slacking off(松懈).

    The research inspired more than a thousand additional studies discussing everything from the influence of positive messages to the ego-sapping power of daily decisions.

    Studies also show that cognitive capacity also affects our ability to hold out against temptation. Cognitive capacity is essentially your working memory, which you employ when resisting a temptation… or holding a string of numbers in your head. A 1999 study from the University of Iowa professor Baba Shiv found that people tasked with remembering a two-digit number held out better than people remembering a seven-digit number when tempted with chocolate cake.

    Reading books and looking at pictures is great, but nothing facilitates (促进) learning like travel, especially for teenagers. Not only do they get to see a world beyond their neighborhood, they also get to experience it, feel it, taste it, hear it and better understand the world around them.

    After nearly four decades in the classroom and traveling the world, Phyllis Duvall Bailey knew this perhaps better than anyone else.

    Becoming involved in the work in AKA Sorority Inc in US, she worked to educate children about the United Nations. There was no doubt in Bailey's mind that the lessons would mean so much more if the students could see things for themselves.

    Starting in 2015, Bailey, 82, set out to take her students to the UN Headquarters in New York City to give them a "Window Seat to the World", and thus transformed them into global citizens.

    Indeed, it is a great opportunity to give students national and international exposure. Since Bailey saw the students as future leaders, she was desperate to expose them to the UN, its mission, its agendas (议程) and its supporting organizations.

    She decided to give $10, 000 of her own money to pay for the late June trip, enough to take 10 students aged 14-17 on a four-night stay in New York. There, they had guided tours of the UN Headquarters and the New York City Harbor (海港).

    It was Quenyaun Payne's first trip to the city and Taylor Sappington's second. Payne, 17, is a senior at Mceachem High School in the state of Georgia, US. Sappington, 15, is a junior at Therrell High School in Atlanta, Georgia, US. Both said their visit to the UN was inspiring.

    "I like not only how countries are working together but they're focused on common goals like global warming and keeping peace," Sappington said.

Payne commented, "The trip was amazing. I'm so thankful Mrs. Bailey made it possible."

    Actually, there are a lot of people grateful for the retired teacher's effort. The United Nations Association of Atlanta recently gave Bailey its Humanitarian Award, and the United Nations Association of the US-awarded her with the National Education Award.

    But Bailey wasn't looking for recognition or even gratitude. Over those four days in New York, she'd already felt it and seen it in the eyes of those 10 teenagers, Payne and Sappington included, who made the trip.

    "It has been a real joy to get to see and watch their reaction to new experiences," she said.