Similar case retrieval and fuzzy thesaurus based an transitive closure

This paper presents a new algorithm to generate a fuzzy thesaurus which is used for similar case retrieval. This algorithm is based on simultaneous occurrences of a pair of index attribute values in two indexes. The simultaneous occurrences compose "a cross-index matrix" and this matrix makes "a fuzzy related term matrix." A transitive closure of this matrix is used as the fuzzy thesaurus. A prototype decision support system to plan a rescue operation against disasters was constructed using this fuzzy thesaurus.