Groups whose proper subgroups are Baer-by-Chernikov or Baer-by-(finite rank)
Our main result is that a locally graded group whose proper subgroups are Baer-by-Chernikov is itself Baer-by-Chernikov. We prove also that a locally (soluble-by-finite) group whose proper subgroups are Baer-by-(finite rank) is itself Baer-by-(finite rank) if either it is locally of finite rank but not locally finite or it has no infinite simple images.