The phrase "affect a substantial number" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing the impact or influence of something on a significant quantity of people or things.
Example: "The new policy is expected to affect a substantial number of employees in the organization."
Alternatives: "impact a significant number" or "influence a large number".
These shifts will affect a substantial number of children at any given test threshold.
Nevertheless, the present results suggest that positive selection might affect a substantial number of genes during tumorigenic somatic evolution.
This frequency of statistically supported covariance implied that at least some mutations must pleiotropically affect a substantial number of traits (>70; 0.6% of all measured traits).
To explain the observed frequency of pleiotropy among D. serrata expression traits, at least some mutations must affect a substantial number of traits (>70); we cannot distinguish between a distribution with few very large modules and many relatively small ones vs. a more normal distribution with module sizes distributed about a fairly large mean (∼70).
"The figures gloss over the fact that pensioner poverty unfortunately still exists and affects a substantial number of older people – 1.6 million in total," she added.
The sudden demise of TechnoDyne, which according to earlier company statements had 500 employees and $100 million in annual revenue, means that for the first time, the scandal adversely affected a substantial number of people who may have been simply associated with a CityTime contractor, and not necessarily involved in the project.
Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a widely acknowledged trauma that affects a substantial number of boys/men and has the potential to undermine mental health across the lifespan.
In recent years it has become clear that DP affects a substantial number of people, yet little work has attempted to improve face processing in these individuals.
Of these, 51 were pleiotropic/linked, affecting a substantial number of secondary metabolites; nine were specific to individual secondary metabolites.
