The phrase "a modest decrease in the" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing a small reduction in a particular quantity or measurement, often in contexts like economics, statistics, or research findings.
Example: "The report indicated a modest decrease in the unemployment rate over the last quarter."
Alternatives: "a slight reduction in the" or "a small decline in the".
Animals with a deletion in mec-10 showed only a partial loss of touch sensitivity and a modest decrease in the size of the mechanoreceptor current (MRC).
Furthermore, inundation with cool water decreased skin temperatures more quickly than the clothing insulating case and led to a modest decrease in the burn extent.
At a given temperature, increasing pressure resulted in a modest decrease in the rate of NO removal, with little effect on the amount of NO2 and N2O formed.
Mr. Hinesley's statistics show a modest decrease in the median sales price in late 2007 and early 2008 (dropping to $250,000), but a rebound over the last four months to $283,000.
Although the president's tax plan is short on details, it has plenty of potential benefits for high-income earners, including a reduction in top marginal income tax rates and a modest decrease in the tax rate on capital gains.
Although we did observe a modest decrease in the fraction of perisinusoidal CARcs in old mice, the association of CARcs with ECM and their spatial arrangement with respect to sinusoids were mostly preserved during ageing (Fig. 7k, l).
While La caused a modest decrease in the activation energy for densification, surface and grain boundary energies decreased from 0.95 to 0.70 J/m2, respectively, for YSZ, to 0.80 and 0.41 J/m2 for 2 mol% La-YSZ, indicating an increase in sintering stress.
However, changes in outer coordination sphere interactions lead to a modest decrease in the relative occupancy of the low and high pH modes.
In contrast, mutation of Tyr100A and Asp100C show a modest decrease in the IC50 (table 4) consistent with a slightly increased affinity for gp120 (table 3).
In all cases, rapamycin induced a modest decrease in the levels of total S6, but this was not sufficient to account for the loss of S6 phosphorylation.
Cells exposed to the control buffer showed a modest decrease in the expression of these proteins, possibly due to the lack of amino acids in the buffer.
