instruction:
Generate an explanation for the given claim using the provided supporting material from the paragraph. Please consider the following points while generating an output. 1) The claim will always have supporting proof in the paragraph, and the paragraph will have a clear point of view supporting the claim. 2) There can be instances where direct correlation to the claim is not available. Make use of the sentences in the paragraph to provide a corresponding output supporting the claim. 3) The explanation should be at least one and at most twelve sentences long.
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Paragraph: The Idaho State Journal reports that last year there were nearly 6,600 STD cases, including HIV, up from fewer than 6,300 in 2016. Cases are also up nationally, with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announcing last week that nearly 2.3 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis were diagnosed in the United States in 2017. Kimberly Matulonis-Edgar of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare says experts in the state and across the country are struggling to understand what’s driving the increase. The most prevalent STDs reported nationally and in Idaho are gonorrhea and chlamydia. State health officials say that the rate of reported gonorrhea cases in Southeast Idaho fell about 14 percent from a year ago, but jumped more than 200 percent in south-central Idaho. ___ Information from: Idaho State Journal, http://www.journalnet.com Claim: Health experts alarmed by jump in STDs in Idaho.
answer:
A jump in reports of sexually transmitted diseases in Idaho has health experts worried.


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Paragraph: "Bounciest Democrat on November's statewide ballot? It might be Hank Gilbert, making his second hard charge for state agriculture commissioner versus Todd Staples, the Republican who topped him four years ago. Gilbert, ever prowling for issues, recently trumpeted that the Texas Department of Agriculture is looking at buying thousands of stress balls -- squeezable toys. He said in a Sept. 24 press release: ""Make no mistake, Texans love their balls: footballs, baseballs, basketballs, and soccer balls. But 300,000 stress balls? It seems a little extreme, but that's the quantity of grape, barbell, and book-shaped polyurethane stress balls the Texas Department of Agriculture could be spending taxpayer dollars on...""  Really? To our inquiry, Gilbert's campaign provided Web links to the agriculture agency's June request for bids as well as a September post on a state website indicating that a $99,000 contract to provide promotional materials was awarded to a Massachusetts company, Oceans Promotions. We downloaded the June 29 bid-request package from a site for state requisitions overseen by the state comptroller's office. The package shows the department was seeking bids to provide up to 300,000 stress ""relievers,"" which we're guessing are not balls because they're not round. Precisely, the package says, the agency sought bids to make ""promotional items with logo imprints to follow through on (the) TDA Food and Nutrition Texans Bring It Campaign,"" with the items to include grape-shaped stress relievers with ""Texans Bring It"" written on them or ""Eating Right,"" which would be made of polyurethane and be two inches high by three inches wide. The package says a second set of stress relievers, each one called ""Dumbbell,"" would be imprinted ""Texans Bring It"" and ""Exercise"" and be five inches high by 1.8 inches in diameter. A third stress reliever would be imprinted ""Book"" and ""Texans Bring It,"" according to the bid package, while other promotional items would include pencils, buttons and bumperstickers. The package says the bids were sought for various quantities, starting from 2,500 and topping out at 100,000 each. It electronically links to a Branders.com site showing what the agency wanted the stress relievers to look like (our interpretation: bunches of purple grapes). Is all this a real deal? To our inquiry, Bryan Black, Staples' spokesman, replied via e-mail: ""An invitation for bid was issued for these federally funded educational items to reduce the $5.8 billion avoidable health care expenditures, paid by taxpayers, associated with overweight and obesity health problems."" We followed up with Black, asking if it's accurate to conclude that up to 300,000 of the stress relievers are being purchased. We also wondered why the purchase was being made. Black said he'd limit his comment to his e-mailed statement. Surely the agency would pipe up if Gilbert got its purchase plans wrong." Claim: Hank Gilbert Says the Texas Department of Agriculture seeks to purchase up to 300,000 promotional stress balls.
answer:
Hank Gilbert says Texas Department of Agriculture could be buying up to 300,000 stress balls


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Paragraph: The decision comes less than two weeks after Medtronic Inc said it was halting clinical trials for its high blood pressure device after the treatment, known as renal denervation, failed to prove effective in a key U.S. study. Medtronic’s move surprised many observers. The devices, which are not available in the United States, take a new approach to treating hypertension and are aimed at patients resistant to traditional drug-based therapies. Some analysts had predicted the technology, which works by deadening nerves in the kidneys, could evolve into a $2 billion market by providing an alternative to drug therapy. Covidien said the decision to exit the business was a result of its regular review of strategic programs. “The company took a close look at the renal denervation market and realized it really is growing much slower than expected,” said Covidien spokesman Peter Lucht. He declined to comment on whether Medtronic’s study outcome played a role in his company’s decision. S&P Capital analyst Phillip Seligman said the failed clinical trial of Medtronic’s product likely influenced Covidien’s decision but noted sales of the device were modest. He maintained a “strong buy” rating on Covidien shares. Covidien’s device, called OneShot, was sold in Europe and the Middle East. In Europe, where the product was approved in February 2012, adoption of such devices has run into reimbursement hurdles as governments have been reluctant to pay for the new technology. The devices work by creating tiny scars along nerves in the kidneys - organs that play a pivotal role in regulating blood pressure by sending signals to the brain that can cause blood vessels to constrict. Following its decision to halt clinical studies of its renal denervation system, Medtronic said it would form an independent panel of experts to make recommendations on the future of the product, called Symplicity. Medtronic continues to sell the product in 85 countries. It has been approved in Europe since April 2010. St Jude Medical Inc and Boston Scientific Corp also sell renal denervation products in Europe and other markets. Boston Scientific acquired its system through the purchase of Vessix Vascular Inc in November 2012. A Medtronic spokeswoman said it was too soon to determine the next steps for Symplicity. “We don’t know if we would consider another clinical trial. We don’t know anything yet,” said spokeswoman Wendy Dougherty. Covidien said it expects to record after-tax charges of $20-$25 million as a result of exiting the program. The company’s shares fell 1 cent to $68.19 on Tuesday. (This January 21 story was corrected to fix name of Medtronic hypertension product to Symplicity, not Ardian, paragraphs 9, 12) Claim: Covidien to stop selling hypertension device.
answer:

Covidien Plc said it would stop making a device for treating high blood pressure due to weak demand for the product, raising more doubts about the future of the novel technology.