diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index d7aa018..10f8a0a 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -32,4 +32,5 @@ langgraph>=0.1.0
 redis>=5.0.0
 
 # General
-numpy>=2.4.0
\ No newline at end of file
+numpy>=2.4.0
+torch>=2.11.0
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/agent/graph.py b/src/agent/graph.py
index 54febf8..b42e758 100644
--- a/src/agent/graph.py
+++ b/src/agent/graph.py
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 from langgraph.graph import StateGraph
 from src.agent.nodes import check_cache, pubmed_retrieval, llm_generation, parse_claims, nli_scoring, \
-    confidence_scoring, assembly, route_after_cache
+    confidence_scoring, assembly, route_after_cache, preprocess_query
 from src.agent.state import AgentState
 
 graph = StateGraph(AgentState)
 
 # Add nodes
 graph.add_node("check_cache", check_cache)
+graph.add_node("preprocess_query", preprocess_query)
 graph.add_node("pubmed_retrieval", pubmed_retrieval)
 graph.add_node("llm_generation", llm_generation)
 graph.add_node("parse_claims", parse_claims)
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@
 )
 
 # Add edges
+graph.add_edge("preprocess_query", "check_cache")
 graph.add_edge("pubmed_retrieval", "llm_generation")
 graph.add_edge("llm_generation", "parse_claims")
 graph.add_edge("parse_claims", "nli_scoring")
@@ -29,7 +31,7 @@
 graph.add_edge("confidence_scoring", "assembly")
 
 # Set entry and finish
-graph.set_entry_point("check_cache")
+graph.set_entry_point("preprocess_query")
 graph.set_finish_point("assembly")
 
 # Compile
diff --git a/src/agent/nodes.py b/src/agent/nodes.py
index 4a8ddb6..08f590d 100644
--- a/src/agent/nodes.py
+++ b/src/agent/nodes.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import numpy as np
+import torch
 from src.agent.state import AgentState
 from src.retrieval.cache import get_cache, set_cache
 from src.retrieval.vector_store import add_abstracts, query_abstracts
@@ -8,7 +9,7 @@
 from sentence_transformers import CrossEncoder
 from src.core.config import settings
 
-_llm = ChatGoogleGenerativeAI(model="gemini-2.5-flash-lite", google_api_key=settings.GEMINI_API_KEY)
+_llm = ChatGoogleGenerativeAI(model="gemma-3-27b-it", google_api_key=settings.GEMINI_API_KEY)
 _nli_model = CrossEncoder("cross-encoder/nli-MiniLM2-L6-H768")
 
 def check_cache(state: AgentState):
@@ -23,9 +24,21 @@ def route_after_cache(state: AgentState) -> str:
         return "llm_generation"
     return "pubmed_retrieval"
 
+def preprocess_query(state: AgentState):
+    prompt = f"""Extract a concise PubMed search query (3-6 words) from this clinical question.
+    Return ONLY the search terms, nothing else.
+
+    Question: {state["query"]}
+
+    Search terms:"""
+
+    response = _llm.invoke(prompt)
+    search_query = response.content.strip()
+    return {"search_query": search_query}
+
 def pubmed_retrieval(state: AgentState):
     if not state["cache_hit"]:
-        results = search_pubmed(state["query"])
+        results = search_pubmed(state["search_query"])
         add_abstracts(results)
         abstracts = query_abstracts(state["query"])
         set_cache(state["query"], abstracts)
@@ -72,15 +85,27 @@ def nli_scoring(state: AgentState):
 
         for abstract in state["abstracts"]:
             scores = _nli_model.predict([(abstract["abstract"], claim)])[0]
+            scores = torch.softmax(torch.tensor(scores), dim=0).numpy()
             label_idx = int(np.argmax(scores))
-            if scores[label_idx] > best_score:
-                best_score = scores[label_idx]
-                best_result = {
-                    "claim": claim,
-                    "label": labels[label_idx],
-                    "score": float(best_score),
-                    "evidence": abstract["abstract"]
-                }
+
+            if label_idx != 2:
+                non_neutral_score = max(scores[0], scores[1])
+                if non_neutral_score > 0.7 and non_neutral_score > best_score:
+                    best_score = non_neutral_score
+                    best_result = {
+                        "claim": claim,
+                        "label": labels[label_idx],
+                        "score": float(non_neutral_score),
+                        "evidence": abstract["abstract"]
+                    }
+
+        if best_result is None:
+            best_result = {
+                "claim": claim,
+                "label": "Unverifiable",
+                "score": 0.0,
+                "evidence": None
+            }
 
         scored_claims.append(best_result)
 
diff --git a/src/agent/state.py b/src/agent/state.py
index 993084d..fbaa25b 100644
--- a/src/agent/state.py
+++ b/src/agent/state.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 class AgentState(TypedDict):
     query: str
     cache_hit: bool
+    search_query: Optional[str]
     abstracts: list[dict]
     llm_response: Optional[str]
     claims: Optional[list[str]]
diff --git a/src/retrieval/vector_store.py b/src/retrieval/vector_store.py
index 6d7b570..67ca07c 100644
--- a/src/retrieval/vector_store.py
+++ b/src/retrieval/vector_store.py
@@ -23,19 +23,19 @@ def get_collection():
 
 def add_abstracts(abstracts: list[dict]):
     data_list = []
-
     for item in abstracts:
-        data = {'id': item["pmid"],
-                'values': _embed_text(item["abstract"]),
-                'metadata': {
+        if item["abstract"] and item["pmid"]:
+            data_list.append({
+                "id": item["pmid"],
+                "values": _embed_text(item["abstract"]),
+                "metadata": {
                     "title": item["title"],
                     "abstract": item["abstract"],
                     "pmid": item["pmid"]
-                    }
                 }
-        data_list.append(data)
-
-    get_collection().upsert(vectors=data_list)
+            })
+    if data_list:
+        get_collection().upsert(vectors=data_list)
 
 def query_abstracts(query: str, n_results: int = 5) -> list[dict]:
     embedding = _embed_text(query)