  It is shown that a commutative B\'ezout ring $R$ with compact minimal prime
spectrum is an elementary divisor ring if and only if so is $R/L$ for each
minimal prime ideal $L$. This result is obtained by using the quotient space
$\mathrm{pSpec} R$ of the prime spectrum of the ring $R$ modulo the equivalence
generated by the inclusion. When every prime ideal contains only one minimal
prime, for instance if $R$ is arithmetical, $\mathrm{pSpec} R$ is Hausdorff and
there is a bijection between this quotient space and the minimal prime spectrum
$\mathrm{Min} R$, which is a homeomorphism if and only if $\mathrm{Min} R$ is
compact. If $x$ is a closed point of $\mathrm{pSpec} R$, there is a pure ideal
$A(x)$ such that $x=V(A(x))$. If $R$ is almost clean, i.e. each element is the
sum of a regular element with an idempotent, it is shown that $\mathrm{pSpec}
R$ is totally disconnected and, $\forall x\in\mathrm{pSpec} R$, $R/A(x)$ is
almost clean; the converse holds if every principal ideal is finitely
presented. Some questions posed by Facchini and Faith at the second
International Fez Conference on Commutative Ring Theory in 1995, are also
investigated. If $R$ is a commutative ring for which the ring $Q(R/A)$ of
quotients of $R/A$ is an IF-ring for each proper ideal $A$, it is proved that
$R_P$ is a strongly discrete valuation ring for each maximal ideal $P$ and
$R/A$ is semicoherent for each proper ideal $A$.
