diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 3e01102..4c328ca 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ classifiers = [
 dynamic = ["version"]
 dependencies = [
     "deprecated",
-    "pz-rail-base",
+    "pz-rail-base>=1.0.3",
     "scikit-learn",
     "minisom",
     "somoclu",
diff --git a/src/rail/estimation/algos/minisom_som.py b/src/rail/estimation/algos/minisom_som.py
index 221d944..80ee799 100644
--- a/src/rail/estimation/algos/minisom_som.py
+++ b/src/rail/estimation/algos/minisom_som.py
@@ -89,10 +89,10 @@ class MiniSOMInformer(CatInformer):
                           som_learning_rate=Param(float, 0.5, msg="SOM learning rate"),
                           som_iterations=Param(int, 10_000, msg="number of iterations in SOM training"))
 
-    def __init__(self, args, comm=None):
+    def __init__(self, args, **kwargs):
         """ Constructor:
         Do Informer specific initialization """
-        CatInformer.__init__(self, args, comm=comm)
+        super().__init__(args, **kwargs)
         self.model = None
 
     def run(self):
@@ -212,11 +212,11 @@ class MiniSOMSummarizer(SZPZSummarizer):
                ('cellid_output', TableHandle),
                ('uncovered_cell_file', TableHandle)]
 
-    def __init__(self, args, comm=None):
+    def __init__(self, args, **kwargs):
         self.zgrid = None
         self.model = None
         self.usecols = None
-        SZPZSummarizer.__init__(self, args, comm=comm)
+        super().__init__(args, **kwargs)
         self.som = None
         self.column_usage = None
         self.ref_column_name = None
diff --git a/src/rail/estimation/algos/somoclu_som.py b/src/rail/estimation/algos/somoclu_som.py
index 4c8e153..f4ccfc0 100644
--- a/src/rail/estimation/algos/somoclu_som.py
+++ b/src/rail/estimation/algos/somoclu_som.py
@@ -201,10 +201,10 @@ class SOMocluInformer(CatInformer):
                                           + "Default: 1.5"),
                           som_learning_rate=Param(float, 0.5, msg="Initial SOM learning rate (scale0 param in Somoclu)"))
 
-    def __init__(self, args, comm=None):
+    def __init__(self, args, **kwargs):
         """ Constructor:
         Do Informer specific initialization """
-        CatInformer.__init__(self, args, comm=comm)
+        super().__init__(args, **kwargs)
         self.model = None
 
     def run(self):
@@ -329,11 +329,11 @@ class SOMocluSummarizer(SZPZSummarizer):
                ('cellid_output', Hdf5Handle),
                ('uncovered_cluster_file', TableHandle)]
 
-    def __init__(self, args, comm=None):
+    def __init__(self, args, **kwargs):
         self.zgrid = None
         self.model = None
         self.usecols = None
-        SZPZSummarizer.__init__(self, args, comm=comm)
+        super().__init__(args, **kwargs)
         self.som = None
         self.column_usage = None
         self.ref_column_name = None