Is there an equivalent to the MySQL handlersocket stuff in postgresql?

http://www.percona.com/doc/percona-server/5.5/performance/ha...

http://www.slideshare.net/akirahiguchi/handlersocket-2010062...

It might go against the "no transaction" crowd, but seems useful for performance-critical needs. I'm scheduling a bit of testing time with it next week to see if it's something I'd roll out in production (Maria 10 system)