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Nine researchers, editors and science communicators share their views about the barriers that Asian scientists encounter in publishing their work and becoming more visible on the international level. Shravan Hanasoge has been a faculty member in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, since 2013. He received his Ph.D. at Stanford University and then pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and the Department of Geosciences, Princeton University. Noriaki Horiuchi is a senior editor at Nature Photonics, based in the Springer Nature Tokyo office. He obtained a Ph.D. from Universite Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, and then pursued postdoctoral research at Toyota Technological Institute and RIKEN. He joined Nature Photonics in 2009. Congcong Huang is a team manager and senior editor at Nature Communications, based in the Springer Nature Shanghai office. She obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, UK, then pursued postdoctoral research at Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in the USA. She joined Nature Communications in 2012. Hepeng Jia is a science communication researcher at the School of Communication, Soochow University in China and a science journalist, writing for the Nature journals and Chemical & Engineering News. He has a Ph.D. in science communication from Cornell University. Na Young Kim is an associate professor at the Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo, Canada, leading her Quantum Innovation laboratory. She has a Ph.D. from Stanford University and has also worked in industry for Apple Inc. Mio Murao is a professor at the Department of Physics, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan. She has a Ph.D. from Ochanomizu University in Japan, then pursued postdoctoral research at Harvard University, Imperial College London and RIKEN before joining the University of Tokyo as a faculty member. Minah Seo is principal research scientist at the Sensor System Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea. She has a Ph.D. from Seoul National University, then pursued postdoctoral research at Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA. Rebecca Tan is the Editor in Chief of Asian Scientist Magazine, a science and technology magazine that highlights research and development news stories from Asia to a global audience. She has a Ph.D. from the National University of Singapore. Jens Wilkinson is communications officer at the International Affairs Division in RIKEN, Japan. He has been working in Japan for over 15 years.

At the 24th General Congress of the International Commission for Optics in Tokyo, photonics-based sensing and simulations were shown to benefit research into phenomena that span the nanometre to astronomical range.

A laser-annealing technique for increasing the dopant concentration in semiconductors, the creation of a glass with second-order optical nonlinearity and the realization of optical topological insulators were highlights at the Japan Society of Applied Physics Spring Meeting.

Next-generation wireless communication, high-harmonic generation of sub-cycle pulses and ultrafast probing of the excitation dynamics of materials were all topics of discussion at this year's IRMMW-THz conference in Hong Kong.

Expiratory muscle training（EMT） for improving cough function and prevention of aspiration pneumonia in healthy elderly individuals as well as patients with neurological disorders has received recent attention. Although 2 studies elucidated its effects on swallowing function in a small population of patients with Parkinson’s disease, its overall efficacy remains uncertain. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of EMT on respiratory indices and swallowing function in elderly individuals receiving home care. The subjects were 22 community-dwelling elderly individuals receiving home care. An EMT training device（Threthold IMT） was applied with reversed use and the training period was 4 weeks. The loading pressure was 30% of baseline MEP and the training sessions were performed for 15 minutes twice a day. Each training session was monitored by a family member and recorded. Respiratory function［forced-vital capacity（FVC） and %FVC］ and respiratory muscle strength ［maximal expiratory pressure （MEP） and maximal inspiratory pressure （MIP）］ were measured at baseline and after 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks of EMT, while swallowing function ［repetitive saliva swallowing test （RSST）］ was measured at baseline and after 4 weeks. Two-way ANOVA was performed with the factors of ADL score and measurement week. Statistical analysis showed that both factors had effects, though there was no correlation between them. MEP was significantly improved at 3 and 4 weeks after EMT as compared to the baseline, whereas other respiratory indices and RSST were unchanged after EMT. Our findings indicate that EMT can strengthen expiratory muscles and suggest the need for higher expiratory loading pressure. Further research should define the target population more clearly and establish an effective EMT protocol to improve swallowing function.

Following eight years of construction, the superconducting European X-ray free-electron laser in Hamburg, Germany has just opened and started its first experiments. Nature Photonics spoke to Thomas Tschentscher, its scientific director, about the facility and its plans.

Reports of photon–photon interaction experiments, novel imaging schemes and state-of-the-art mirrors were highlights of the recent International Conference on X-ray Optics and Applications in Yokohama, Japan.

In the version of this News and Views article originally published, the name ‘Xi-Cheng Zhang’ was spelt incorrectly as ‘Xi-Chen Zhang’. This has now been corrected in the online versions.