The phrase "a modest layer" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a thin or subtle covering or addition to something, often implying that it is not excessive.
Example: "The cake was beautifully decorated with a modest layer of frosting that complemented its flavor without overwhelming it."
Alternatives: "a thin layer" or "a slight layer".
Since it tends to tilt toward finding bargains and dividend payers, it provides a modest layer of insulation.
Olney stirs his into the sauce, but I'm going to stick to a modest layer on top, in true gratin fashion.
Non-diseased human coronary arteries normally have a modest layer of intimal thickening (or neointima, NI) that consists of an accumulation of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and extracellular matrix[1].
I've used a more modest layer of cream – enough to blunt the sweetness of the filling without sending you into a stupor.
Already from such a simple linear presentation of the results for the 0 10 cm layer a modest but constant decrease of radioactivity within that layer was observed.
Cellular layers in the hippocampus proper and dentate gyrus were normal in heterozygous Apoer2+/− mice, whereas a modest split of the pyramidal layer in area CA1 and CA3 was observed in Pafah1b1+/− and homozygous Apoer2−/− mice.
Only the T-LORD with S = Plc = 4 and fixed subset choice at the root layer has a modest loss, say 0.2dB more than the full-complexity T-LORD.
At PI-30, there was a modest increase in outer nuclear layer (ONL) thickness (Fig 5A, top), and many individual OSs exhibit improved ultrastructure (arrows, Figure 5A, bottom).
More specifically, W1000 has a very modest sediment-layer effect, while W700 has a much larger effect, spreading practically all the way across the first MDS axis (Fig. 4).
The addition of a second CFRP layer resulted in a modest gain in shear capacity for specimen NT-ST-200.
Interestingly, this treatment resulted in only a modest disruption in the cap cell layer of the end bud that was accompanied by only a slight decline in DNA synthesis.
