A condition for the solvability of finite groups.
A θ-pair for a maximal subgroup M of a group G is a pair (A, B) of subgroups such that B is a maximal G-invariant subgroup of A with B but not A contained in M. θ-pairs are considered here in some groups having supersoluble maximal subgroups.
The notions of nearly-maximal and near Frattini subgroups considered by J.B. Riles in [20] and the natural related notions are characterized for abelian groups.