In TCP, something called the 'push flag' can be set to cause accumulated 
data in the monitor (which may be one or more packets) to be sent over 
the network.  It is often abbreviated as "PSH".
The Tops-20 FTP client and server both set PSH on the last packet of 
data from a file to send it on its way. This is done with a SOUTR% JSYS, 
which stands for *S*tring *OUT* *R*ecord.  This is an overloading of the 
hardware record concept which is more commonly associated with 
nine-track magnetic tape.
PSH can also be detected on input by doing a SINR%, which stops the 
network read early, instead of waiting for a full buffer of data (which 
might, in fact, never come).
I believe DECnet transport implements the same semantics, but I would 
like to double check that.  Where would I go in which part of what 
specification?  Or does anybody know?