  In this thesis, we consider the problem of characterizing and enumerating
sets of polyominoes described in terms of some constraints, defined either by
convexity or by pattern containment. We are interested in a well known subclass
of convex polyominoes, the k-convex polyominoes for which the enumeration
according to the semi-perimeter is known only for k=1,2. We obtain, from a
recursive decomposition, the generating function of the class of k-convex
parallelogram polyominoes, which turns out to be rational. Noting that this
generating function can be expressed in terms of the Fibonacci polynomials, we
describe a bijection between the class of k-parallelogram polyominoes and the
class of planted planar trees having height less than k+3. In the second part
of the thesis we examine the notion of pattern avoidance, which has been
extensively studied for permutations. We introduce the concept of pattern
avoidance in the context of matrices, more precisely permutation matrices and
polyomino matrices. We present definitions analogous to those given for
permutations and in particular we define polyomino classes, i.e. sets downward
closed with respect to the containment relation. So, the study of the old and
new properties of the redefined sets of objects has not only become
interesting, but it has also suggested the study of the associated poset. In
both approaches our results can be used to treat open problems related to
polyominoes as well as other combinatorial objects.
